The Dallas Cowboys have shockingly had the busiest week of any team coming out of the NFL Scouting Combine. Osa Odighizuwa’s four-year $80 million contract kicked things off on Tuesday as Dallas maintained the star in the middle of their defensive front.
Many presumed Odighizuwa would be a casualty of a complacent and constrained Cowboys’ cap and hit the free agent market. After all, that is really the only hand this organization played a year ago in the offseason.
But thus far, Dallas has gotten active in the days leading up to the start of free agency. They made the deal for Odighizuwa, but also brought back C.J. Godwin, Juanyeh Thomas and Brock Hoffman. These were all in response to the bigger moves made behind the scenes.
The Cowboys have “flipped the switch” on Dak Prescott’s and CeeDee Lamb’s contracts, restructuring them in ways that now open up more cap space for the team to use potentially this offseason.
Some of those resources will go into an expected contract extension for Micah Parsons, but also open up avenues for the team to build through free agency if they choose.
As they explore the market, there are needs to be filled across the board, but could the Cowboys try to beef up their defense with another linebacker? Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton is set to hit free agency and could be an option for Dallas.
Bolton turned in another solid season in 2024 with 106 total tackles and three sacks, also recovering two fumbles. He may not drive an extremely high price in free agency, so if he wants out of Kansas City, the Cowboys have good reason to show interest.
While DeMarvion Overshown progresses from his season-ending knee injury, his status for next season is unknown. Veteran Erick Kendricks will become available and Dallas has shown no desire to pursue him just yet.
Despite the work done and that to be accomplished with other household names this spring, there remains questions about how the Cowboys construct the middle of Matt Eberflus’ defense. Bolton would silence those immediately.
This depends on what the market looks like for Bolton and if it is not to his liking, he could choose to return to the Chiefs. But if he becomes available and holds a reasonable price tag, the Cowboys should do their homework on another impact defensive player.