The Dallas Cowboys are in a weird spot with their edge rushers.
On one hand, they have arguably one of the most talented, deep position groups in the NFL. On the other hand, there’s a tremendous level of uncertainty there as NFL All-Pro Micah Parsons wades his way through messy contract negotiations.
Once Parsons is locked in, things could get a little messy in terms of who makes the roster and who gets sent packing — including one player talented enough he might have value in a trade.
Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder put Cowboys edge rusher Sam Williams on his list of NFL players who might benefit from a “change of scenery” in a trade as his team figures out a new hierarchy behind Parsons.
Williams missed all of 2024 with a torn ACL and MCL suffered during training camp but had 8.5 sacks in his first 2 seasons in 2022 and 2023.
“The problem is that (Williams) might be buried on the depth chart since Dallas brought (Dante) Fowler back in free agency and drafted Donovan Ezeiruaku in Round 2 this offseason,” Holder wrote on July 24. “That’s in addition to 2024 second-rounder Marshawn Kneeland and three-time All-Pro Micah Parsons. Meanwhile, Williams is about to enter a contract year. So, he would benefit from getting a chance to start and showcase what he can do with a bigger opportunity to earn a significant pay bump in the offseason … he would have a much clearer path toward playing time with another club that isn’t as deep on the edge.”
Williams Could Also Play Way Into Starting Role
The Athletic’s Jon Machota thinks Williams could be the singular breakout player for the Cowboys in 2025.
“Williams holds the top spot here because his size and athletic ability are ideal for being an elite edge rusher,” Machota wrote. “The 2022 second-round pick just hasn’t been able to put it all together. His breakout season was supposed to be last year, but a season-ending knee injury in training camp put everything on hold. He took part in some individual drills during minicamp. If he’s healthy, he could be Dallas’ second-most productive pass rusher behind Micah Parsons.”
Williams, 6-foot-4 and 261 pounds, has shown he can be a high volume edge rusher in the past. As a senior at Ole Miss in 2021 he had 57 tackles, 12.5 sacks, 16 TFL, 4 forced fumbles and one fumble return for a touchdown.
That, combined with running the 40-yard dash in 4.46 seconds at the NFL scouting combine led the Cowboys to spend a second round pick (No. 56 overall) on him in the 2022 NFL draft.
Former NFC East Rival Likely Other Starter
The biggest impediment to Williams taking over a bigger role right now is probably Dante Fowler, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft.
Fowler played for the Cowboys in 2022 and 2023, then spent one season with the Washington Commanders in 2024, where he led the team with 10.5 sacks. He returns to the Cowboys as a viable starter across from Parsons.
In Fowler’s previous 2 seasons with Dallas, he played all 34 regular season games with no starts but still had 10.0 combined sacks.
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