While the Dallas Cowboys didn't make many big moves during the first wave of free agency as it pertained to signing new players, their biggest acquisition being safety Jalen Thompson, they did make plenty of noise with some high-profile trades.
The first, of course, brought a player in, as Jerry Jones engaged in yet another trade with the Green Bay Packers, acquiring veteran edge rusher Rashan Gary in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. But the Cowboys went in the other direction a couple of days later, shipping defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa to the San Francisco 49ers for a 2026 third-rounder. Dallas also traded Solomon Thomas to the Tennessee Titans in a deal that also included a seventh-round pick swap next month, but losing Thomas obviously isn't as significant as losing Odighizuwa.
Now, as one would imagine, not everyone is on board with letting Odighizuwa go, as he's quietly been one of the top pass-rushing interior defenders in the entire league the last couple of years. But Jones simply believes this is the best move for his football team at this point.
Jerry Jones says trading Osa Odighizuwa was the best move for the Cowboys at this time
In his first comments since making the trade with San Francisco, Jones had nothing but great things to say about Odighizuwa. But with his high salary after signing a four-year, $80 million extension last year and the Cowboys having other options up front in the trenches, Jones felt he could make the deal with the Niners.
"We needed to spread it around a little bit on what we have available to us with (the salary cap)," Jones said. "More importantly, we can put it in some places that probably get more mileage out of what it’s done. That’s not taking anything away from him individually, but we’ve got two outstanding football players (Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark), we have other backup players, plus we don’t want to rule out drafting a player. So, we thought that was the best move. …
“(Odighizuwa) has such high character. He’s done such an amazing job in his career. You could say, ‘Well, aren’t you going the wrong way when people of his quality, his caliber, aren’t on the team?’ But that’s the reason we were able to get what we thought was a really beneficial result for the team. We got the (third-round draft pick). (That pick) will be very helpful to us. And (that) also lets us put those resources that we’re going to spend there in some other spots we need help.”
Truth be told, that's one of the better statements Jones has made about a trade. It's certainly better than the ridiculous reasoning he put forth when he dealt Micah Parsons to the Packers.
From an overall standpoint, the move certainly makes plenty of sense. But with new defensive coordinator Christian Parker likely to use five-man fronts on occasion as part of his strategy, it would have been quite intriguing to see what the trio of Williams, Clark, and Odighizuwa could do. And even on four-man fronts, Odighizuwa could have moved to the edge, as he's proved to be effective there as well when necessary.
But we'll obviously never get to see that scenario play out.