Assume for a second the Dallas Cowboys are indeed limited by the amount of financial pie there is to go around, that Stephen Jones’ annual decree stating the salary cap is a zero-sum game are true, and the accounting methods used by 31 other teams are just a mirage and not feasible workarounds. For every dollar given to Player A, that’s one less dollar available for Player B. Let’s play “would you rather.”

The Cowboys have a tough decision to make regarding one of their upcoming free agents. Osa Odighizuwa is coming off a career season where he created a whopping 60 pressures from the interior, top five in his position group. He was also credited with 4.5 sacks (Pro Football Focus tracked seven sacks) with the majority coming in the second half of the season.

This dispels the criticism ] Odighizuwa can’t hold up through a full season, and makes the fifth-year defensive tackle the top interior pressure player on the market.

The Super Bowl-winning Eagles just showed the effectiveness of a great defensive interior. They dominated the Chiefs in the trenches and did so without blitzing. It’s a defensive strategy the Cowboys are expected to employ under Matt Eberflus in 2025. Without the use of blitzing, the Dallas front four will have to generate consistent pressure by themselves. High-end playmakers up front are a must under this scheme, making Odighizuwa an important player to retain.

Re-signing Odighizuwa will be a very tough task since the Cowboys still have to work out a deal for Micah Parsons. But if the Cowboys can free up extra spending cash to re-sign both players simply by cutting a couple middle-tier players, shouldn’t they consider it?

What if the franchise released their two underachieving starting safeties and moved that cash to Odighizuwa’s pocket? Would such a tit-for-tat be worth it?

Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson are both coming off forgettable seasons for Dallas. Wilson finished off the season strong but only after playing extremely poorly early on. His feast or famine playing style was susceptible to the big play, and all too often the veteran looked like a weak link rather than high-priced team leader.

Hooker similarly struggled in 2024. The Cowboys free safety played a more diverse role in Mike Zimmer’s defense last season and things didn’t go all that well.

Of PFF’s 99 graded safeties last season, Wilson finished 61st while Hooker came in at 44th. These were disappointing rankings considering the two safeties counted a combined $11,385,294 against the cap. In 2025 those cap numbers balloon to $16,400,000, not far below the annual amount Odighizuwa is expected to command in a free agency deal some have forecasted as high as $105 million total.

Cutting the two safeties will unavoidably result in dead money, therefore will not serve as a clean cash swap between the safety duo and Dallas’ top interior player, but it will provide the cap relief needed to justify the re-signing.

If Odighizuwa is not retained, it would leave the Cowboys’ weakest position even weaker going into 2025. With no starting quality DTs on the roster, Dallas would have to break the bank for a high-end free agent and use an early round draft pick just to feasibly compete next year.

It stands to reason if both Hooker and Wilson are let go it would similarly leave a hole in the secondary. Yet depth players like Juanyeh Thomas and Markquese Bell have flashed in the past and could realistically be up to the challenge. It would be a much bigger longshot to expect Mazi Smith and Justin Rodgers to competently handle starting roles at DT.

It’s something to think about as the Cowboys look for ways to manage needs and simultaneously stay under budget.

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