All the Dallas Cowboys news that’s fit to print.
Cowboys’ Dante Fowler Jr. fired up for 2nd stint with team after free agency reunion – Ali Jawad, Sports Illustrated
In a reverse of last offseason, the Cowboys got back a defensive lineman that previously followed Dan Quinn to the Commanders.
After a season in the nations capital Fowler Jr. opted to return to the Cowboys last week, signing a one-year free agent contract.
“It feels amazing to be back, I’m definitely happy to be here in Dallas,” Fowler Jr. told DallasCowboys.com. “I’m ready to get going with the guys for sure. I’m definitely excited to be back in this defense and to help get this defense to be one of the top defenses in the league and to help the team get some wins.”
During his first run in Dallas, Fowler Jr. appeared in 34 games and recorded 40 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, and three forced fumbles.
In his lone season in Washington, the former 2015 first-round pick proved just how productive he can be when playing away from attention-getting players like Pro Bowlers Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence.
Fowler Jr. recorded 39 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss, 20 pressures, and a pick-six last season with the Commanders. He credited his breakout season in Washington thanks to his first run in Dallas.
“It was pretty big, just to be able to go out there and show the people that I’m still here and be able to produce at a high level,” Fowler Jr. said. “I felt really confident going into this season especially with these past two years getting to work from coach [Aden Durde], Micah [Parsons] and [DeMarcus Lawrence] with the d-line group that we had.”
Cowboys free agent moves on the defensive line show they are serious about taking the ball away – Dan Rogers, Blogging The Boys
Turnovers are once again a point of emphasis for the Cowboys defense, with a very new-look front seven to get after the ball.
And attrition is at work again this year. The Cowboys had six defensive linemen with at least two sacks last year, and four of them are not on the team this year.
DeMarcus Lawrence (free agency)
Chauncey Golston (free agency)
Carl Lawson (unsigned)
Linval Joseph (unsigned)
Unlike last year, the Cowboys aren’t sitting on their hands in free agency to replace the players they’ve lost. We’re only one week into free agency and the Cowboys have already made the following additions.
Signed Dante Fowler to a one-year deal
Signed Solomon Thomas to a two-year deal
Signed Payton Turner to a one-year deal
Add in the four-year, $80 million deal that Osa Odighizuwa got a week ago, and suddenly the Cowboys have some bodies. And don’t forget that Sam Williams returns after sitting out all last year with a knee injury.
The Cowboys have a good assortment of pass rushers, but creating pressure hasn’t been the issue for this defense. Of course, it helps when you have one of the best defensive players in the league in Micah Parsons on the roster. The Cowboys have finished in the top three in sacks in two of the last three years. What’s impressive about that stat is that one of those years was last year, where they had to reach deep down the depth chart to get help.
While the pass rush was still there, the Cowboys have seen a drop off in creating turnovers over the last two years. In 2021 and 2022, the Cowboys defense led the league in takeaways, but in each of the past two seasons, they have finished outside the top 10. That is something the defense would love to get back.
New Cowboys linebackers Jack Sanborn and Kenneth Murray Jr. on Dallas’ new-look defense – Tommy Yarrish, DallasCowboys.com
The Cowboys have completely flipped the depth chart at linebacker under Eberflus, with new additions Jack Sanborn and Kenneth Murray ready to hit the ground running.
“I feel like we’ve got every piece that we need to be a dominant defense in the NFL,” Murray said. “Just looking at our personnel, we’re going to be a really fast defense, a really violent defense.”
That identity falls right under the umbrella of what new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is looking for. Sanborn spent the first three years of his NFL career with Eberflus and now Cowboys linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi in Chicago, and he knows exactly what to expect now that they’ve all reunited again.
“Both are great coaches, and both are great defensive minds. I think that is one thing that stood out for me with my time in Chicago, and at the same time just both great people, people that you want to play for, and two people that kind of get the best out of me,” Sanborn said. “I really enjoyed working with them, I’m excited to work with them more and have a great defense here.”
When Eberflus’ defenses have been at their best in the past, they specialize in being able to stop the run and take the ball away. Turnovers have been a staple of the Cowboys defense in recent years, but they’ve struggled to stop the run, finishing 29th in the league last season and have not finished top 10 in the league since 2018 in the run defense category. Sanborn thinks all that will change soon.
“Being aggressive, one of the big things is he wants to stop the run,” Sanborn said. “I think being aggressive, being physical, flying around to the football, tackling well, and we’ve got to get the football taken away from opposing offenses and that’s what he harps on and is something he wants to get accomplished.”
Jourdan Lewis’ replacement might already be on Dallas Cowboys roster thanks to overlooked free agency decision – Mauricio Rodriguez, A to Z Sports
The Cowboys retaining their own free agents has been overlooked slightly by their outside additions, but players like Israel Mukuamu might get a real chance.
Fortunately, the emerging vacancy at slot cornerback might already have a solution on the roster.
That’s because when the Cowboys decided to re-sign defensive back Israel Mukuamu to a one-year deal, they secured a starting-caliber nickelback. Mukuamu, a sixth-round draft pick back in 2021, has struggled to get on the field -and stay on it- in Dallas. He started out his career at safety and has been asked to play all over the field but for one reason or another, he has failed to crack the starting lineup.
Personally, I attribute that to the fact the Cowboys have had a quality secondary for a few years now. Trevon Diggs, DaRon Bland, and Lewis were never going to be sent to the sidelines by him. The same goes for Stephon Gilmore while he was in Dallas. What was surprising though is the Cowboys didn’t seem to consider him a lot even when they were hit hard by the injury bug.
But those paying attention know Mukuamu was once tossed into the nickel spot when facing Tom Brady and Chris Godwin in the 2022-2023 playoffs. He was solid, forcing two incompletions in eight targets and allowing only a 69.3 passer rating.
If given the chance to start, Mukuamu, who told me early in his career he preferred to play cornerback over safety, has the traits necessary to be solid.
Kaiir Elam looks forward to new opportunity after being in the “back seat” with the Bills – Charean Williams, Pro Football Talk
The Cowboys also have a trade asset acquired from the Bills to help at either cornerback position, former first-round pick Kaiir Elam.
“Coming to Buffalo, I was a kid that just wanted to improve and learn and really show off my talents, but I was always put in the back seat,” Elam said, via Ryan Talbot of newyorkupstate.com. “I continued to put my head down and work, continued to make plays throughout the season and in the playoffs and stuff like that. I just took everything I learned from there and all the baggage and improvements I felt like I needed to make and just packaged it up and worked on it every day. I don’t really see it as a negative. I really just see it as a growing opportunity for me to go shine somewhere else.”
Elam was unable to beat out the competition in Buffalo, with Christian Benford, Rasul Douglas and Dane Jackson among those who saw more playing time. Elam totaled 81 tackles, six passes defensed and two interceptions with the Bills.
Buffalo will receive a 2025 fifth-round selection and a 2026 seventh-rounder, while sending a 2025 sixth-round choice to the Cowboys along with Elam.
Outside corner Trevon Diggs will miss most if not all of the 2025 season after bone graft surgery on his left knee, and slot corner Jourdan Lewis left for the Jaguars. That gives Elam an opportunity to earn more playing time than he had in Buffalo when he was a healthy scratch for multiple games and played only 939 defensive snaps in his time there.
“I’m confident because I’m coming into a staff that truly believes in me,” Elam said.
