Just when it looked like the Dallas Cowboys were going to slink into the 2026 NFL offseason without a great deal of noise surrounding many of their big names, Brian Schottenheimer and the rest of the organization were hit with a fairly unsavory piece of news related to emerging pass rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku.
Ezeiruaku was arrested on Sunday and charged with reckless driving, according to Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News and Collin County jail records. Ezeiruaku was released after posting $500 bond, and the Cowboys themselves had no further comment on the matter.
According to Watkins, Texas Department of Public Safety officials did not immediately return an email to comment on the matter, and Ezeiruaku himself has not released anything related to the incident. This is a suboptimal way for a player of his talent and repute to kick off the offseason.
Cowboys DE Donovan Ezeiruaku arrested for reckless driving
Ezeiruaku was one of the few Cowboys defensive players who can claim to have performed at an above-average level this season. After a very challenging year for this defense, Ezeiruaku emerged as someone Dallas expects to be at the forefront of their defensive line for a long time.
Ezeiruaku recorded 40 tackles and two sacks this season, though those numbers don't tell the whole story due to the fact that he was not a starter until midway through the year and all of the extra pressures he had that did not result in a quarterback takedown for the Boston College product.
All signs point to the Cowboys entering the 2026 season with Ezeiruaku as one of the starting edge rushers, even if they choose to improve the position in the 2026 NFL Draft. As they try to do so, it would behoove everyone involved in getting this team back on the right track to avoid any more problems like this.
Dallas may have been eyeing a somewhat less-turbulent offseason than they are accustomed to, but with Ezeiraku ending up in a legal snafu, irrespective of the overall magnitude, this is certainly not the update the Cowboys wanted to hear from their standout rookie.