Which players do you think the Cowboys will retain this week?
It has been a busy week of NFL news with a ton of big names being released, some being re-signed, and some being traded. So far for the Cowboys, they have re-signed Osa Odighizuwa to a 4-year $80-million dollar deal on March 4th, and took care of guys like Juanyeh Thomas, Brock Hoffman and C.J. Goodwin.
With the legal tampering period starting on Monday, the first-wave of free agency will be just about over by the end of the day, with most of the tier one free agents agreeing to terms on Monday.
The Cowboys currently have 17 unrestricted free agents and a few of the big names have had their market values recently updated by Spotrac.com.
Projected market values for notable Cowboys unrestricted free agents sorted by AAV, according to @spotrac:
DE DeMarcus Lawrence – 2 years/$24M
DE Chauncey Golston – 3 years/$22M
LB Eric Kendricks – 1 year/$6.8M
RB Rico Dowdle – 1 year/$6.2M
WR Brandin Cooks – 1 year/$5.2M
QB… https://t.co/NpiJRruSTf— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) March 8, 2025
A few of the key names include Jourdan Lewis, DeMarcus Lawrence, Erik Kendricks, and Carl Lawson. According to Spotrac, Lewis’ value is around $2.25-million per year which seems very low given the level he has contributed to the Cowboys defense over the course of his career. If the Cowboys are able to retain Lewis in the $2-to-$5-million per year range that would be a fantastic value for one of their best defenders over the last few years.
Lawson is another name to highlight in this free agency period. Lawson was a key contributor to the Cowboys pass rush in 2024, finishing with six sacks and 27 pressures in limited snaps. DeMarcus Lawrence, the longest tenured Cowboy remaining with Zack Martin recently retiring, is a name to watch over the opening days of NFL free agency. Lawrence played in just four games in 2024, but has been a leader and excellent player for the Cowboys over the course of his career. Lawrence’s agent, David Canter, spoke at the NFL scouting combine and his comments did not reflect a ton of confidence in Lawrence returning to the Cowboys, but that may change if his market is not as heavy as many have predicted.
Erik Kendricks is the last name to mention with the rough shape the Cowboys linebacker room is currently in with DeMarvion Overshown likely to miss most of the 2025 season. Kendricks played the third most snaps on the Cowboys defense in 2024, behind Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson and played pretty well for most of the season.
The Cowboys have plenty of money to spend, with the 10th most cap space in the NFL after restructuring Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb deals earlier in the week. We will see how aggressive they are in retaining their own free agents over the next few days and how that impacts how aggressive they will be on outside free agents when free agency kicks off next week.
