Osa Odighizuwa's contract extension could have encouraging domino effect but Cowboys Nation must brace for potential letdown
The Dallas Cowboys got busy on Tuesday ahead of next week's free agency kickoff. In the same day, they re-signed Osa Odighizuwa to a massive $80 million deal, restructured CeeDee Lamb's contract to open $20 million in salary cap, and re-signed guard Brock Hoffman, safety Juanyeh Thomas, and specialist C.J. Goodwin. Additionally, reports emerged the day […]
The Dallas Cowboys got busy on Tuesday ahead of next week's free agency kickoff. In the same day, they re-signed Osa Odighizuwa to a massive $80 million deal, restructured CeeDee Lamb's contract to open $20 million in salary cap, and re-signed guard Brock Hoffman, safety Juanyeh Thomas, and specialist C.J. Goodwin.
Additionally, reports emerged the day prior indicating the Cowboys had started conversations with Micah Parsons, who is expected to sign a contract extension that would make him the highest-paid defender in NFL history.
And the thing is, this is a different approach from the Cowboys. This right here? We're not used to it.
The Cowboys are known for dragging out negotiations more than needed, something they did even with superstars Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. Last year, it's likely they would've franchise tagged Odighizuwa to extend negotiations instead of signing him to a long-term deal as early as they did. It wouldn't have been a surprise for them to begin talks with Parsons until April, once the frenzy of free agency had died off enough.
This early proactiveness and "selective aggression" is raising a question from Cowboys fans: Is it time to get excited and buy in into 2025 being different?
My answer? Yes and no.
I think it would be unhealthy for Cowboys fans to interpret these early moves as proof the front office is changing its very conservative ways ahead of this year's season. I believe they need to earn back the benefit of the doubt. It's been many years of doing things one way and to think they're "all-in" for real this time just feels like the perfect setup for a huge letdown down the road.
With that being said, I do believe it's the first of many dominoes that could get Cowboys Nation to buy in in 2025. Here's how I'd describe it:
The early deal for Osa makes me believe they'll get the Parsons contract done early as well, which would open up significant salary cap space. That could be complemented with another early automatic restructure, this time for Dak Prescott, who could open up over $30 million in cap space. If those two things happen before free agency, then I'd start believing they'll be active in free agency.
And if, and that's a humongous if given their recent history, the Cowboys become big spenders in free agency, then I'd buy into the notion that this season could be different.
But I've got to see it to believe it. What I will say is I didn't expect the Odighizuwa deal to come this early and I'm encouraged by reports of negotiations with Parsons kicking off last week. Things are running differently in Dallas and they've got my curiosity.
Now let's keep the momentum going. Let's see if this is legit or if they just happened to get Osa's deal done early because he happens to be a player not demanding a Top 10 salary.
