The Dallas Cowboys entered the offseason with a handful of holes to sew up before the 2025 NFL season. While Jerry Jones and Co. have addressed several of them, there are still a few outstanding worries in Dallas with the regular season right around the corner.
One of them is the running back position, as both free agent additions Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders have expectedly looked uninspiring. Micah Parsons' contract situation is another dark cloud over the building that seemingly has no resolution nearing either.
However, another big area of concern has been the defensive tackle position, specifically, a big run-stopper right in the center of the defense. Fortunately, the Baltimore Ravens may have just waived a player who can rectify this issue in Dallas.
Cowboys gifted ideal defensive tackle solution with C.J. Okoye
On Tuesday afternoon, The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec reported that the Ravens waived promising young nose tackle C.J. Okoye. This was a surprise release, as Okoye starred for Baltimore during the preseason and appeared to be in line for a spot on the 53-man roster.
Baltimore is loaded with talent on the defensive line, however, much to the benefit of the Cowboys. Okoye is the perfect player to stick in the middle of the defense and stop the run at 6-foot-6 and 370 pounds.
This preseason, he made four tackles and two run stops for the Ravens defense. He also added three total quarterback pressures, which included two hurries and one quarterback hit. In 80 total snaps, he recorded a Pro Football Focus grade of just 59.8, but he earned a 72.2 tackling mark.
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Okoye could have an immediate impact in Dallas purely based on the Cowboys' lack of answers at defensive tackle. Mazi Smith continues to underwhelm and fall short of expectations, Solomon Thomas is firmly on the downslope in his career, and Jay Toia is too raw to be relied on immediately.
Perrion Winfrey starred during the preseason, but he is still a bit unproven and it would be unwise to head into Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles' offensive line with just Winfrey, Smith and Thomas as interior rushers next to Osa Odighizuwa.
Jerry Jones needs to act fast, because a player like Okoye might not last too long on the waiver wire. If he wants to improve this Dallas defense, then the choice is obvious, but there's no telling what Jones sees, or more to the point, what he'll do.