Osa Odighizuwa Free Agency

[Landryhat73]

This is where the organization has failed- an extension last year would have been considerably cheaper.

 

[Creeper]

..cut Dlaw, sign Osa. He's proven to be good piece of.DL.

DLaq is a free agent.

 

[Creeper]

I don't think the issue is money...or finding it. The issue is should you even invest in Osa 20 million a year. And that's a different question. I hear about how everyone says he's good yet our rush defense sucks. Now its not his fault but I have a hard time hyping up anyone on this interior who are responsible for our rush defense. Mazi gets all the criticism but its more than him.

Exactly! It should always be about value. What is Osa's production worth to the Cowboys?

I like Osa, and I would like to keep him. I think he will continue t improve the next year or two. But based on what he produces, he is not worth $20 million. I am sure the Cowboys could find the money to pay him that much, but that is not the point. Maybe for $20 million they can find another DTs who's a little better.

Although, as I pointed out, the list of free agent DTs this year is slim. I think Milton Williams and Levi Onwuzurike are the best on the list this year. I wonder what Milton Williams will cost considering he did not play much behind Carter and Jordan in Philly.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

..cut Dlaw, sign Osa. He's proven to be good piece of.DL.

D Law doesn't have a contract. He is a free agent as well. Use OSA's money to get a guy that can collapse the pocket a bit and stuff the run. I like Osa a lot, but he isn't what this defense needs the most. And D Law, probably would come a lot cheaper than Osa and is better all around.

 

[gimmesix]

Osa is a good DT who would be better playing next to another good DT.

He’s not worth the top DT money he’s going to probably require. He isn’t a game changer.

But if they sign him and draft another DT, it’d be a step towards solidifying the middle of the defense.

Right. If signing Osa means we don't go after an elite DT, then I'm not for signing Osa. I think he's a good complimentary part, but we need to keep shooting for great at that position. Even if we signed Osa, I'd still draft DTs in two of the first three rounds. That could create a four-man rotation (Osa, Mazi, draft pick, draft pick) with having to rely on over-the-hill additions like Joseph or journeymen. Plus, we've missed so often at DT, I'd just like to see us strongly address it for possibly the first time since 2005, when we drafted Spears, Canty and Ratliff.

I know we have other clear needs, but I'd address WR in free agency by going after a player like Stefon Diggs. RB would be my other draft pick among those first three picks, and depending on whether we re-sign Dowdle, I'd probably pick up another one of those later in the draft.

 

[dstew60105]

It would cost more than $23 million to franchise tag him and it would all hit the CAP in 2025. This is not going to happen.

Cap room for 2025 isn’t an issue. Don’t let Stephen Jones fool you.

 

[wileedog]

Cap room for 2025 isn’t an issue. Don’t let Stephen Jones fool you.

Lying or not, I still don't want 23M of it going to a player like Osa.

 

[TwistedL0g1k]

These are the type of players you lose when you have a top-heavy roster. Last offseason, Dallas lost some good depth on the D-Line to Washington. So many folks on the forum labelled them JAGS, and were happy to see them go. Now we see Washington playing in the NFC championship game while Dallas twiddles its thumbs.

Osa is a good player. If he leaves, it would require a relatively high draft pick to replace him. Those picks are needed to improve the roster, not break even.

 

[SportsGuru80]

Let him walk... Do not overpay just above average.

 

[stilltheguru]

Lying or not, I still don't want 23M of it going to a player like Osa.

Who do you want the money to go to? Name the upgrade

 

[thunderpimp91]

I'd bring OSA back. I know he doesnt light up the stat sheet, but its not an easy position to backfill through the draft unless you go DT round 1. Hes also one of those guys who you dont realize how much he helps your team until hes gone. Going from OSA to a JAG is a bigger drop off than most realize. Earlier in the year I guessed 5/$90M for OSA, but that feels slightly on the lighter side now, and I bet he breaks the $20M mark.

 

[Doomsday77]

We're talking about one player on defense, one. I'm sure there has been plenty of OP's on here about our overall defensive effort this year but we beat exactly one team for this stat- PA. Care to guess? Carolina. We gave up the 2nd most points in the entire league and we are talking about one player. One player isn't gonna get it done. Let's talk about a competent DC to fix our D.

 

[conner01]

..cut Dlaw, sign Osa. He's proven to be good piece of.DL.

He’s gonna get way more than Jerry will pay. Think Gholston since he might be closer to Jerry price range

 

[conner01]

I'd bring OSA back. I know he doesnt light up the stat sheet, but it’s not an easy position to backfill through the draft unless you go DT round 1. Hes also one of those guys who you dont realize how much he helps your team until hes gone. Going from OSA to a JAG is a bigger drop off than most realize. Earlier in the year I guessed 5/$90M for OSA, but that feels slightly on the lighter side now, and I bet he breaks the $20M mark.

I bet it’s closer to 25-26

 

[conner01]

D Law doesn't have a contract. He is a free agent as well. Use OSA's money to get a guy that can collapse the pocket a bit and stuff the run. I like Osa a lot, but he isn't what this defense needs the most. And D Law, probably would come a lot cheaper than Osa and is better all around.

I think gholston and maybe Dlaw because they will be cheaper. I think Osa is gonna get much more than people think and well over 20

 

[Sydla]

I like him.

But you don’t pay him 20MM+ a year. Thats insane.

 

[Whiskey Cowboy]

Why isn't the DL ever good enough? Because we refuse to pay the position group it's going rate. Sure, we paid EDGE rusher Lawrence, and I'm sure we'll pay Micah, the flash guys. What about the meat and potatoes ground pounders? Maleik Collins has had a solid career since leaving. Armstrong has had a solid year in Washington. Gallimore made some plays for the Rams last night. Hankins played a big role last year, signed with Seattle for $2m this year....and that's just in the last couple of years.

We choose to rebuild the position with cast aways and big risks like David Irving, Linval Joseph, and Carlos Watkins. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't but there's never any consistency. We develop players and let them leave to find success elsewhere. The position is notorious for taking time to pay dividends. Good teams tend to pay the good players and we're left to pick through the recycling bin, while our good players are "too expensive" to retain. What's going to happen if the light comes on for Mazi Smith next season? Come contract time, are we going to say he sucked the first couple of years so he doesn't deserve a payday? We will never have a viable defensive line if we don't pay our good players that play the position. Turn over a new leaf and pay the guy. Just my .02.

 

[Creeper]

Cap room for 2025 isn’t an issue. Don’t let Stephen Jones fool you.

I don't listen to Stephen Jones. I look at the numbers for myself, not just for 2025 but for the next few years. If you want to push the problem down the road by restructuring Dak and every one else, go ahead, but I would prefer to clear the books of Dak's contract and prepare for a legitimate rebuild in 2027.

Also, the way people just suggest, cut this guy or that guy and get a few million CAP save. Great but then you need to find a player to replace the guy you cut. Cut Terence Steele for example. Then who is the RT? Draft a RT. Great, so then we used a draft pick to solve a problem we created by cutting Steele which means another problem somewhere else doesn't get solved.

The other comical suggestion is make so and so a June 1 cut to reduce the impact of cutting him. That's great too, except you don't see the CAP save until June 1. The problem is you have to be under the CAP in March and the best free agents are long gone by June 1.

I am not saying cutting Steele may not be the right move, but it may not be if you don't have a backup plan. You can hope for the draft, but if the guy you want is gone or you draft a guy who is not ready because you reached for a position then you plan goes to heck, and that's not a plan.

The Cowboys are currently $4 million over the CAP, taking rookies into consideration. They can save about $30 million restructuring CeeDee and extending Micah. But they also have 20 of their own free agents. $25 million does not buy a lot in free agency.

In 2026 they have $69 million in CAP space, but only 34 players under contract. 20 additional players will eat up that $69 million pretty quickly especially if you restructure players in 2025 like Dak, and CeeDee. Of course the answer will be, cut Diggs, or some other guy. Yup, we can to that too, but now you need a quality CB to replace him. Draft one!

In 2027, the Cowboys are $119 million under the CAP, but that's for only 12 players under contract. They have to add 41 players to the roster with that $119 million. And if you restructured everyone in 2026 pushing money into the future, or into voidable years ,as they did with DLaw and Martin in 2025, then that $119 million shrinks to a lot less.

The CAP is real or every team would try to sign all the star players. A mismanaged CAP is even more real.

 

[Landryhat73]

Lying or not, I still don't want 23M of it going to a player like Osa.

I don’t either but the problem is they have hamstrung themselves into this predicament. Mazi is the only DT on the roster, so the alternative is to pay in free agency (Osa is probably the best option) wait it out and go cheap like we did right before the season or spend draft capital on a specific need that has got us in trouble before.

 

[Coogiguy03]

It's not if he's good enough it's the fact that he's the top FA at the position this year and teams tend to over spend