Dante Fowler wants to play for the Cowboys, Dan Quinn the rest of his career

Voluntary offseason workouts began on Monday for the Dallas Cowboys. As per usual, attendance was pretty high and some of the team’s faces, old and new, spoke to local beat reporters at The Star. One of the newest faces of the franchise seemed incredibly happy to be a Cowboy. That player was recently signed defensive end Dante Fowler.

The edge rusher was released by the Atlanta Falcons in February and was worried he may not find another team that felt like the right fit. Luckily, he was picked up by a team that also employs his long-time coach and friend Dan Quinn. Fowler and Quinn go back beyond the Falcons. Quinn was also his defensive coordinator when Fowler attended the University of Florida. Highly talked about in college, the defensive end was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Like many that have played for the coach, Fowler has a great relationship with Quinn. So much so, that he told reporters that he would like to play for the current Cowboys defensive coordinator for the rest of his life. Those are incredibly meaningful words from a guy on his now fourth NFL team who has spent time with a myriad of coaches.

We can’t say this news is entirely surprising given current Cowboys like Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence have often praised Quinn for who he is as a person and a coach. Even his former players like Bobby Wagner have shared how much they enjoyed playing under him. It’s nice to know that Quinn isn’t only doing incredibly well at his job, but he is also a great human being who is well-liked by his squad.

New Cowboys DE Dante Fowler Jr. said he wants to play for Dallas and Dan Quinn for the rest of his career

For someone like Fowler, having a guy in the building who knows you and trusts you is important. A few weeks back, the defensive end was hit with a large fine for previous poor behavior when he was playing in Jacksonville in 2017. That’s obviously not great news to have come up just after you’ve signed with a new team. But knowing that he was with a coach who knew him, his family, and who he was as a person likely brought comfort to Fowler.

It also seems like it’s not just Quinn that Fowler would love to stay with. When talking to reporters, he also added that he would “love to be a Cowboy long term.” Those are bold words to say before you’ve even started OTAs with a team.

Furthermore, Fowler mentioned the fact that he’s prepared to do whatever he can to help get the team to a Super Bowl. Does he know that the team hasn’t won one in 26 years? Fowler certainly isn’t a franchise-changing player, but hopefully, his presence on the team will help get them to a better place. From there, he and the front office can talk about future years in Dallas.