After missing out on Maxx Crosby over the weekend by refusing to send the Las Vegas Raiders a pair of first-round draft picks—which was the right call, by the way—the Dallas Cowboys went looking elsewhere for an edge rusher and ultimately found a trade partner in none other than the Green Bay Packers, sending a 2027 fourth-round pick to their longtime rivals on Monday morning in exchange for Rashan Gary.
Sure, a fourth-round pick may have been a little too much to pay for a player who was about to be released, and the $42 million in combined salary cap hits over the next two years certainly wasn't the most attractive thing. But in making the trade, the Cowboys assured themselves of getting a solid player before he hit the open market, and they'll undoubtedly be restructuring his contract before the new league year officially begins on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.
But while it was great to add a guy like Gary, who made the Pro Bowl in 2024 and racked up a solid 46.5 sacks in his seven seasons in Green Bay, Dallas didn't want to be done on the edge. There was word that the Cowboys might even still be in play for Trey Hendrickson.
But just a few short hours after the Gary deal went down, Dan Quinn's Washington Commanders, who swung and missed on deep-threat wideout Alec Pierce earlier in the day, made a big splash by signing Odafe Oweh. And in doing so, they basically upended the edge market, as they gave the five-year veteran $100 million over four years, which is just far too much.
Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram confirmed that Dallas was caught off guard by the exploding edge market.
Circling back here. Don’t think anyone expected the EDGE market to explode how it did today. Not expecting Dallas to be major players for Trey Hendrickson at this point in time. A lot of others are off the board. Might be time to hunt in tier 2/3 for depth pieces and draft one. https://t.co/OiMBty1JgX
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) March 9, 2026
Commanders paying Odafe Oweh $100 million completely changed the Dallas Cowboys' approach
Now, let's not get this twisted. Oweh, much like Gary, is a solid player.
In his first four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, who made the Penn State alum the 31st overall pick in the 2021 draft, Micah Parsons' college teammate racked up 23.0 sacks.
After failing to record a sack in his first five games with the Ravens this past year, Oweh was dealt to the Los Angeles Chargers and found his game, tallying 7.5 in a dozen regular-season contests with the Bolts and then setting a new franchise record with three sacks and two forced fumbles in a wild-card loss to the New England Patriots.
So, he can go. But is he worthy of being the 12th-highest-paid edge rusher in the NFL? Probably not. Good for him for getting it, of course, and while Cowboys fans typically don't mind a big rival overpaying for a player, this instance is a bit different, as that overpay genuinely may have hindered Dallas from adding another big-time edge in free agency.
And truth be told, the Carolina Panthers didn't help matters either, as they gave now-former Philadelphia Eagle Jaelan Phillips a four-year deal worth $120 million, thus making him the eighth-highest-paid edge rusher in the league.
It's worth noting that among those top 12, Oweh and Phillips are the only two to have never earned a trip to the Pro Bowl.
The Cowboys still have lower-profile options on the edge in free agency, and they'll likely also look to address the position in next month's draft. But one has to wonder if things could have been different on Monday had those pair of deals not gone down the way they did.