Cowboys Could Target Odafe Oweh or Boye Mafe During 26 FA

[TheMarathonContinues]

A free agency haul of Oweh, Mafe, Thompson, and Dean (even though his injury history bothers me) would be a very good start to the offseason.

The draft would be where they can land a CB and be flexible regarding trading down for more picks or focusing on selecting the BPA.

Yeah Deans history scares me as well but it’s a risk I don’t mind taking since he’s a good character guy. That’s if the price isn’t too crazy. Get your corner in the draft….im good at that point.

 

[darthseinfeld]

Mafe could be a real bargin for someone. Down sack season, but had a good amount of pressures. Has a 9 sack season under his belt. Strong run defender. Could be more effective as a stand up rusher.

Boye Mafe is pretty much what we hoped Sam Williams would be

 

[boysfanindc]

Mafe could be a real bargin for someone. Down sack season, but had a good amount of pressures. Has a 9 sack season under his belt. Strong run defender. Could be more effective as a stand up rusher.

Boye Mafe is pretty much what we hoped Sam Williams would be

Agree young rising, high motor player with 40 pressures that is a good run defender.

 

[thunderpimp91]

Not sure we would be willing to pay 16-18 mil a year for Oweh. One semi good season after being traded away by the Raven during the season.

16-18 for 7.5 sacks, career season. Oweh might revert back to his normal 3-4 sacks after getting big money.

8 mil a year yes, 16-18 mil a year, no way.

I think the odds of him being a 4 sack player is really low. He reached 10 sacks in 2024, and followed that up being in on 11 sacks in 13 games with LAC in 2025. Two years of plus production and his 2025 production with LAC was at an elite rate. Sign me up at $20m.

 

[boysfanindc]

Mafe projected 12M a year.
Oweh projected 19M a year.

Like both players but would rather have Mafe and Dean for 19M then Oweh for 19M

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Mafe projected 12M a year.
Oweh projected 19M a year.

Like both players but would rather have Mafe and Dean for 19M then Oweh for 19M

I’d rather have all 3.

 

[boysfanindc]

I’d rather have all 3.

Would rather have Mafe and Dean at 19M, then S Kameron Curl and CB Rasul Douglas at 15M.

The you have reinforced every level of the D going into the draft for the dollars you have.

 

[75boyz]

Sign me up for a reasonably priced Mafe over Oweh.
Recent durability, fit and production issues pointed out in the previous Oweh thread was the deal breaker for me.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Would rather have Mafe and Dean at 19M, then S Kameron Curl and CB Rasul Douglas at 15M.

The you have reinforced every level of the D going into the draft for the dollars you have.

I don’t like these corners honestly. 15 million is excessive for Douglas. Parker has had success with young corners. I’m fine drafting a corner.

 

[boysfanindc]

I don’t like these corners honestly. 15 million is excessive for Douglas. Parker has had success with young corners. I’m fine drafting a corner.

15M is for both Curl and Douglas based on Sports-track projections and I think you need 2 corners.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

15M is for both Curl and Douglas based on Sports-track projections and I think you need 2 corners.

I mean they just tendered Butler and Reddy. They have Carson, Revel and Bland. I assume and hope they draft corner….a bit too rich to pay that for backups.

 

[boysfanindc]

I mean they just tendered Butler and Reddy. They have Carson, Revel and Bland. I assume and hope they draft corner….a bit too rich to pay that for backups.

The 2 tenders for Butler and Reddy total $2M so clearly backups. This is a passing league you need 4/5 corners who can play. Does Bland make it through a full season? What is Carson really, not sure we know yet.

 

[thunderpimp91]

Sign me up for a reasonably priced Mafe over Oweh.
Recent durability, fit and production issues pointed out in the previous Oweh thread was the deal breaker for me.

You gotta help me out with this one...Mafe registered 2 sacks on 383 pass rush attempts while Oweh racked up 11 in 369. Oweh hasnt missed a single game the past three seasons. There are some that point to Oweh being an inferior run defender but PFF gave him a 66 this year while Mafe got a 67. Mafe also has just 10 snaps logged as a DE over the last two seasons. Oweh has been the more versatile player being about 50/50 on his snaps between OLB and DE.

The only real knock on Oweh has been lower than you'd like snap counts, but thats probably what keep him around $20m per year and not $30m+ per year. Mafe is capable and an excellent player to solidify a unit in a rotational role, but isnt the ideal player you want to bring in to move the needle. His best season he was able to rack up 9 sacks, which is nothing to turn your nose up at, but thats a sack roughly every 50 passing snaps...Owen averaged a sack roughly every 22 passing snaps this past season with LAC.

I'd much rather spend a little more to go get a much better player.

 

[exciter]

Give me Oweh and I'm a big believer in what this defense could be. I think he could thrive playing in a defense with our big 3 interior players....Tale of 2 seasons from him a year ago before and after the trade. He had 39 pressures and actually got to the QB 11 times once he went to LAC which came out to about a pressure every 6 passing snaps, being in on a sack once every 22 pass rushes....He isnt drawing the same attention a Myles Garrett is, but those are very similar ratios to what Garrett produced this year.

Here's your issue with Oweh. He fits as a Jack in this defense ( we already have 2 players that fit the Jack) as he's a major liability vs the run. So much so that he's only started a possible 27 of 79 games throughout his career despite being a first round pick. If we had drafted him the fanbase here would have been shrilly screaming bust much like the Ravens fanbase were doing.
What's more he's had durability issues throughout his career, including missing 17 games over the last 2 seasons. At his projected 19-22m he's the epitome of paying a player because you heard his name before!

Me! I'm taking Mafe and considering it Jerry splurging.
He had 2 sacks and 41 pressures last season backing up Lawrence. He had 6 sacks starting in 24 while posting an impressive 77.8 run defense grade playing the strong side. He had 9 sacks playing the rush end in 23.
He's a dual player who can both provide pass rush and play the run , unlike Oweh whose been relegated to pass rush specialist.
Basically he's a young Demarcus Lawrence at about half the price.
He ain't flashy but he's functional and effective.

Other considerations would be Arnold Ebiketie.
At 6-8m a year he would still be considered a Jerry splurge.

More than likely Jerry tries to get lightning in a bottle 2 seasons in a row like he did with JWilliams and we get David Ojabo!

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

The 2 tenders for Butler and Reddy total $2M so clearly backups. This is a passing league you need 4/5 corners who can play. Does Bland make it through a full season? What is Carson really, not sure we know yet.

You need 4 or 5 corners….

Bland, Butler, Reddy, Carson and Revel I assume are 5 and they draft someone which makes 6.

 

[thunderpimp91]

Here's your issue with Oweh. He fits as a Jack in this defense ( we already have 2 players that fit the Jack) as he's a major liability vs the run. So much so that he's only started a possible 27 of 79 games throughout his career despite being a first round pick. If we had drafted him the fanbase here would have been shrilly screaming bust much like the Ravens fanbase were doing.
What's more he's had durability issues throughout his career, including missing 17 games over the last 2 seasons. At his projected 19-22m he's the epitome of paying a player because you heard his name before!

Me! I'm taking Mafe and considering it Jerry splurging.
He had 2 sacks and 41 pressures last season backing up Lawrence. He had 6 sacks starting in 24 while posting an impressive 77.8 run defense grade playing the strong side. He had 9 sacks playing the rush end in 23.
He's a dual player who can both provide pass rush and play the run , unlike Oweh whose been relegated to pass rush specialist.
Basically he's a young Demarcus Lawrence at about half the price.
He ain't flashy but he's functional and effective.

Other considerations would be Arnold Ebiketie.
At 6-8m a year he would still be considered a Jerry splurge.

More than likely Jerry tries to get lightning in a bottle 2 seasons in a row like he did with JWilliams and we get David Ojabo!

Some of this is true, but some of it simply isn't, for example Oweh hasnt missed a game in over 2 years. I have no idea where you're getting that he missed 17 games during that time period.

Pass rush numbers for 2025

• Oweh - 369 pass rush attempts, 11 sacks
• Mafe - 340 pass rush attempts, 2 sacks

PFF run grades for 2025

• Oweh - 64.1
• Mafe - 65.1

Alignment for 2025

• Oweh - 297 at OLB, 237 at DE
• Mafe - 550 at OLB, 5 at DE

It really isnt paying a player for their name. Mafe has never really been a hand in dirt style of player in his career which IMO makes it easier to defend the run. Oweh is more of a true hybrid player you can move around. Both seem comparable against the run, but Oweh is clearly the more efficient pass rusher. Once getting to LA he generated a sack every 22 passing snaps. Thats elite production as a pass rusher.

 

[boysfanindc]

You need 4 or 5 corners….

Bland, Butler, Reddy, Carson and Revel I assume are 5 and they draft someone which makes 6.

I am not going into the season counting on Butler and Carson. Heck you may need to see if Bland can hold up.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I am not going into the season counting on Butler and Carson. Heck you may need to see if Bland can hold up.

I mean you wouldn’t be counting on them you’d be counting on Bland, Revel and your draft pick. That’s just what I see them doing. The corners are mid at best 2nd and 3rd rate guys. Rams traded for McDuffie for that reason.

 

[ChuckA1]

"Odafe Oweh and Boye Mafe may not be superstar names like Trey Hendrickson and Maxx Crosby, but they will be much cheaper."

That statement just says it all!

 

[exciter]

Some of this is true, but some of it simply isn't, for example Oweh hasnt missed a game in over 2 years. I have no idea where you're getting that he missed 17 games during that time period.

Pass rush numbers for 2025

• Oweh - 369 pass rush attempts, 11 sacks
• Mafe - 340 pass rush attempts, 2 sacks

PFF run grades for 2025

• Oweh - 64.1
• Mafe - 65.1

Alignment for 2025

• Oweh - 297 at OLB, 237 at DE
• Mafe - 550 at OLB, 5 at DE

It really isnt paying a player for their name. Mafe has never really been a hand in dirt style of player in his career which IMO makes it easier to defend the run. Oweh is more of a true hybrid player you can move around. Both seem comparable against the run, but Oweh is clearly the more efficient pass rusher. Once getting to LA he generated a sack every 22 passing snaps. Thats elite production as a pass rusher.

I misread the games started due to the trade as injuries.
That said , he's only started 8 games in the last 2 seasons. Where are you getting 11 sacks from?
He had 7.5 as a pass rush specialist backing up Khalil Mack. He had none in Baltimore prior to being traded.
Again, he's only started 27 games because he's a liability against the run.
Give me the complete player at Sam... let Eze and Houston pad stats at the Jack!