Day 1 of free agency was a mixed bag for the Dallas Cowboys. While they bolstered their defensive line and secondary by trading for Rashan Gary and signing Jalen Thompson, who's their best safety in years, they also whiffed on a lot of their top targets.
The edge rusher market exploding the way it did caught them off-guard, as Jaelan Phillips and Odafe Oweh got $30 million and $25 million per year, respectively.
Now, Dallas must pivot to the second and third tiers of free agency to find another pass rusher. Or what about the fourth and fifth tiers?
Desperate to land someone, the Cowboys re-signed Sam Williams on a one-year, $3 million contract, per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.
The Dallas Cowboys have re-signed 2022 second-round pick Sam Williams
Is retaining Williams the worst thing in the world? No. He actually might be serviceable as a rotation outside linebacker in Christian Parker's scheme. The OLB role undoubtedly fits his skillset better than sticking his hand in the ground as a standard edge.
There is no denying Williams' talent. However, he doesn't really have a plan when pass rushing, and a lot of his sacks were the result of blown assignments or free runs at the quarterback.
The hope is that a new defensive staff headlined by Parker, OLBs coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe, defensive line coach Marcus Dixon, and pass rush specialist Brandon "BT" Jordan can make everything click for Williams so he can be a consistent contributor.
A second-round pick in 2022, Williams will certainly be put in a position to succeed under this new staff. That could not be said under Matt Eberflus and Co.
In a vacuum, though, he doesn't have any business being back.
Williams has managed just 9.5 sacks in three seasons (he missed all of 2024 with a torn ACL), and his most prolific year rushing the passer was as a rookie in 2022 when he tallied 22 pressures, four sacks, 10 tackles for loss, and seven QB hits on just 165 pass-rush snaps, per PFF.
While Williams brings more depth to the edge room, it would behoove Dallas to add another pass rusher on Day 2 of free agency and target one with one of its two first-round picks.