Team-friendly Odighizuwa deal opens up doors for Cowboys ahead of free agency. Will they walk through?
Unlike the lifeless 2024 offseason that saw the Dallas Cowboys allow its roster to squeeze its depth with departing free agents and a lack of action to bring in any additional talent, the front office made a flurry of moves on Tuesday that have the team out to a head start on its offseason agenda going into 2025.
Just before 11 a.m. local time, the Cowboys announced an extension agreement with starting defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa that keeps him in Dallas for four years with an $80 million price tag. The structure of the contract sees Odighizuwa taking home $58 million guaranteed with a cap charge in 2025 of just $6.25 million.
It was best-case scenario for the Cowboys to keep their starting three-tech home without breaking the bank for his services. Had he waited for the opening of free agency on March 12, Odighizuwa could have commanded a deal closer to nine figures. Instead, his strong desire to remain in Dallas sees him take a cut with a minimal 2025 cap hit in order to allow the team to build around him next season.
Just moments after Odighizuwa’s deal was finalized, the team announced that it had restructured the contract of wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to free up $20 million of cap space in 2025. As a result, his cap hit will increase to $38.6 million in 2026 if a second restructure is not completed this time next year.
The moves allowed the Cowboys to immediately lock in two more impending free agents: special teams ace C.J. Goodwin on a one-year deal and safety Juanyeh Thomas on an exclusive rights free agent team option deal that keeps him in Dallas for 2025.
Just by signing Odighizuwa, and his team-friendly contract, the Cowboys have enacted a domino effect of moves to begin their roster construction going into 2025. Furthermore, it allows them to go after other priority free agents beginning with starting nickel cornerback Jourdan Lewis.
The Cowboys met with Lewis’ representation last week in Indianapolis, and while there hasn’t been an offer extended to the eight-year veteran, there is building interest between both sides for yet another reunion in 2025. Internally, Dallas considers him a priority for Matt Eberflus’ defense next season.
But even if Lewis’ contract is considered the next task, the extension talks with star defensive end Micah Parsons is the next big puppy that the team must reel in within the next few weeks. Parsons has expressed on multiple occasions that he wants a deal done ahead of free agency to give the team more spending room, and conversations began to pick up last week during the NFL Combine.
With Odighizuwa’s deal finalized, expect the attention to direct toward yet another team-friendly deal with Parsons in which the four-time Pro Bowler has expressed he doesn’t need to be the highest-paid defender in the league despite his resume having more than enough juice to command such a price.
The team is also expected to restructure quarterback Dak Prescott’s contract in the near future to avoid having a $89.574 million cap hit be charged to the team in 2025. The maneuvering could give the team more than $35 million more to utilize in the offseason.
With a Prescott restructure and a Parsons extension in place, the Cowboys would have more than $50 million in cap space heading into free agency. With that kind of room, a repeat of the 2024 offseason would be theoretically impossible. That money would allow Jerry and Stephen Jones to not only be “selectively aggressive.”
It would allow them to be contenders for just about any player on the open market that they desire, or to get a head start on negotiating extensions with their own talent. Maybe that’s where the “selectively” comes into play.
