5 players Cowboys must bring back for the 2024 season

3. Dorance Armstrong, EDGE

When the Cowboys were unable to lock up Randy Gregory last year, it felt as though they made a mistake. But fast-forward to now and Gregory has already been traded by the Denver Broncos who got next to nothing from him. For Dallas, they quickly turned their attention to re-signing Dorance Armstrong — and Stephen Jones was laughed at for suggesting he could produce at the same level as Gregory.

In the end, it was proven that Jones deserved to be laughed at, but not for the originally reason people were laughing. Jones actually undersold what Armstrong brought to the table. The former fourth-round pick had 33 tackles and 8.5 sacks in 2022 which was far superior to anything Gregory did during his tenure in Dallas.

Then in 2023, Armstrong added another 38 tackles and 7.5 sacks. He doesn't make the flashy plays but he still had 71 tackles and 16 sacks over the past two seasons while playing in all 34 games. As for Gregory, he has appeared in 22 games with 32 tackles and 5.5 sacks between two teams. Again, Armstrong not only produced what Gregory could but he outperformed what Gregory did in two seasons with his one-year totals in both 2022 and 2023.

With that consistency, the Cowboys need to bring Armstrong back for a seventh year — at least. He's developed into a productive member of the defensive line and losing him could be a major blow.