2026 Cowboys Free Agency Thread…

ravidubey said:
I think this means they are shifting to a rotation of bigger NT type players and fitting Clark and Williams around them as the penetrators. In this scheme Clark as a two gap guy and Williams as the penetrator gives you unique talent and pressure, but you need the NT’s who can anchor.

In that system, Osa is not a starter, more of a a third rotation guy and his cap numbers simply don’t reflect that.

They save some cap space trading him, but also lose one of the only 4or 5 talented people we had on defense.

This explains the Otito Ogbonnia move, because he’s exactly that kind of NT.

Dallas front is now one of the biggest 3-4 fronts around, especially with Gary a 275 in space LB/EDGE, Otto 320, Clark 314, and Williams the penetrator at 303.

Big, penetrating, and powerful. Who are these guys??
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We need a speed rusher though.
 
I feel a little better about the osa trade after watching this video. Clarence Hill echoes his tweet that Osa wasn't really happy about his role in the new defense, and him and Thomas aren't great fits for the defense generally because (I'm paraphrasing) they are upfield players not really space eaters.

 
Genghis Khan said:
I feel a little better about the osa trade after watching this video. Clarence Hill echoes his tweet that Osa wasn't really happy about his role in the new defense, and him and Thomas aren't great fits for the defense generally because (I'm paraphrasing) they are upfield players not really space eaters.

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That tracks with what I've been imagining for the defense. Despite this weird 3-4 with 4-3 spacing nonsense talk, when you look at the Eagles DL last year they actually do a lot of 2-gapping type stuff on early downs with both hands in the ground, squared up.

Ogbonnia is kind of an indicator of the kind of guys he's going to prioritize on the DL. Big, thick guys who can occupy 1.5-2 gaps and hold the POA.

Williams isn't exactly that type but he's excellent against the run and a special enough pass rusher that he doesn't need to really fit the mold.
 
Genghis Khan said:
I feel a little better about the osa trade after watching this video. Clarence Hill echoes his tweet that Osa wasn't really happy about his role in the new defense, and him and Thomas aren't great fits for the defense generally because (I'm paraphrasing) they are upfield players not really space eaters.

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I did start wondering when every highlight I saw from Otito Ogbonnia was him playing the 4i. Everyone keeps saying NT for him. But I actually think we may have signed him to be more of that Osa position.

But now I'm sitting here going, so it's Clark, Otito and Williams as your starters. You have Toia as a backup. Who else do you have as your 3-4 D-lineman? What felt like a very deep position now suddenly feels very thin. I feel like we at least need another Otito level player on the D-line.

Sadly I feel like we need a real speed rusher. But at least at OLBer from a numbers perspective we have bodies. The problem is those guys are just bodies outside of Houston, EZ and Gary. But we do have bodies there. We don't really have the bodies on the D-line anymore after getting rid of two guys yesterday. And we still don't have bodies at ILBer. We have like 3 dudes on the roster. One of those guys most of us have never even heard of.

And oh yeah we are thin as shit at corner. Outside of Bland and Revel it's Carson, Bridges, and I guess Reddy Stewart? Oh yeah Josh Butler and Zion Childress. So maybe sort of like OLBer we have a couple guys and then a bunch of bodies.
 
Every year 1-2 of the 8 Olawale signings work out and after watching all of Locke's snaps I think he might be the one this year. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he beat out Hooker as the starter in camp.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
I did start wondering when every highlight I saw from Otito Ogbonnia was him playing the 4i. Everyone keeps saying NT for him. But I actually think we may have signed him to be more of that Osa position.

But now I'm sitting here going, so it's Clark, Otito and Williams as your starters. You have Toia as a backup. Who else do you have as your 3-4 D-lineman? What felt like a very deep position now suddenly feels very thin. I feel like we at least need another Otito level player at least.

Sadly I feel like we need a real speed rusher. But at least at OLBer from a numbers perspective we have bodies. The problem is those guys are just bodies outside of Houston, EZ and Gary. But we do have bodies there. We don't really have the bodies on the D-line anymore after getting rid of two guys yesterday.
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They have to add someone else somewhere on the front 7 who is capable of playing big snaps. Maybe not a starter exactly, but someone who can play half the snaps or so.

Doesn't matter if it's a guy like Allen who would be a 1:1 Osa replacement or an edge rusher like Greenard or even Bosa, but we need more decent players there and they can't come from just the draft.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
I did start wondering when every highlight I saw from Otito Ogbonnia was him playing the 4i. Everyone keeps saying NT for him. But I actually think we may have signed him to be more of that Osa position.

But now I'm sitting here going, so it's Clark, Otito and Williams as your starters. You have Toia as a backup. Who else do you have as your 3-4 D-lineman? What felt like a very deep position now suddenly feels very thin. I feel like we at least need another Otito level player at least.

Sadly I feel like we need a real speed rusher. But at least at OLBer from a numbers perspective we have bodies. The problem is those guys are just bodies outside of Houston, EZ and Gary. But we do have bodies there. We don't really have the bodies on the D-line anymore after getting rid of two guys yesterday.
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Jonathan Allen.
 
Smitty said:
Jonathan Allen.
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I mean to me that would be ideal. A little older than Osa but frankly has been a better player than Osa over his career. Also a bigger body who may be a better fit for what we are doing. Started 17 games last year on an elite defense so you know you can at least trust him to be a solid starter.

But I'm not really sure what the hell the Cowboys are doing now in free agency. We sort of threw around these names and money and missed on those guys. And now are we going to pretend like we don't have money? Or were we really never in on those other guys in the first place.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
I mean to me that would be ideal. A little older than Osa but frankly has been a better player than Osa over his career. Also a bigger body who may be a better fit for what we are doing. Started 17 games last year on an elite defense so you know you can at least trust him to be a solid starter.
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We also just hired the Vikings DL coach.
 
Simpleton said:
We also just hired the Vikings DL coach.
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It would make me feel a shit ton better about the Osa trade. I might even be pumped about the trade. Because lord knows I wanted another top 100 draft pick. That's a starting nickel corner, LBer or safety if you just make the obvious pick. Don't get cute and draft a guy that I have to look up to figure out who he is. There will be starters available at that pick at those positions.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
It would make me feel a shit ton better about the Osa trade. I might even be pumped about the trade. Because lord knows I wanted another top 100 draft pick. That's a starting nickel corner, LBer or safety if you just make the obvious pick. Don't get cute and draft a guy that I have to look up to figure out who he is. There will be starters available at that pick at those positions.
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If they go and get Allen we would at least to be able to see some semblance of a plan. So, if they do get Allen, I could definitely forgive the Osa trade. The reason I was so upset about it yesterday was I felt they opened a hole they didn't need to, and given I am used to them going into shit half-assed with no plan, the trade seemed like creating an unnecessary need. But, if the plan all along was to get Allen, then it makes sense. I'm just not used to this team ever making any damn sense.
 
Cotton said:
If they go and get Allen we would at least to be able to see some semblance of a plan. So, if they do get Allen, I could definitely forgive the Osa trade. The reason I was so upset about it yesterday was I felt they opened a hole they didn't need to, and given I am used to them going into shit half-assed with no plan, the trade seemed like creating an unnecessary need. But, if the plan all along was to get Allen, then it makes sense. I'm just not used to this team ever making any damn sense.
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They cleared more cap space after the trade if I am not mistaken. I Am hoping beyond hope that that means they intend to actually use that space.
 
Cotton said:
If they go and get Allen we would at least to be able to see some semblance of a plan. So, if they do get Allen, I could definitely forgive the Osa trade. The reason I was so upset about it yesterday was I felt they opened a hole they didn't need to, and given I am used to them going into shit half-assed with no plan, the trade seemed like creating an unnecessary need. But, if the plan all along was to get Allen, then it makes sense. I'm just not used to this team ever making any damn sense.
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I thought the trade was the right value for Osa which was the only part of it I disagreed with you about. Otherwise obviously my problem with that trade is you took away the only strength this defense did have. A badass Dline. I sure hope there is a plan. Christian Parker certainly has a plan. That dude doesn't strike me as a guy who doesn't have things well thought out.
 
roughneck266 said:
They cleared more cap space after the trade if I am not mistaken. I Am hoping beyond hope that that means they intend to actually use that space.
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It's also possible they needed that space to become cap compliant yesterday. We can't sit above the cap any longer. But we can still free up space if we need to. And Osa free's up a lot of future space.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
Signing Pickens long term.
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This needs to happen, but I am still skeptical that they want him long term which is idiotic unless Pickens is causing major problems in the locker room which I highly doubt.
 
Cotton said:
This needs to happen, but I am still skeptical that they want him long term which is idiotic unless Pickens is causing major problems in the locker room which I highly doubt.
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If you don't want him long term than trade him. Otherwise you're back in the same spot next offseason. And I guess his stock could be higher but it feels like it would be hard to top what he did last year in terms of showing he can be a dominant number 1 while Lamb was out.
 
Smitty said:
We need a speed rusher though.
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Yeah, and big time.

Gary and EZ are placeholder starters on the edges for now, one is older and fading and one is almost completely unproven.

Ironically Williams remains our top pass rush threat at the moment as he is not only one of the biggest but also one of the quickest. Getting an elite DT like this in his prime is going to be transformational.

But we need to draft a rusher in the 240-265 range to take full advantage. That will truly open things up. The more of these guys we draft the better, and there is a deep class of them in this draft.
 
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