Dan Quinn can weaken Cowboys by swiping free agent that just had the best year of his career in 2024
The Washington Commanders laid part of the foundation for the future in 2024, but there's more work to be done in the 2025 offseason. And as we all know, the Commanders are in prime position to do just that.Adam Peters and co. have the infrastructure to maneuver the entire spectrum of free agency additions. From […]
The Washington Commanders laid part of the foundation for the future in 2024, but there's more work to be done in the 2025 offseason. And as we all know, the Commanders are in prime position to do just that.
Adam Peters and co. have the infrastructure to maneuver the entire spectrum of free agency additions. From the splashy All-Pro signing to the little-known depth addition, Washington can do it all, if it wants. As it currently stands, the team has the third-most cap room in the NFL with $75,480,461 in effective cap space, per Over The Cap.
But this conversation won't center around the big moves that are on the table in terms of possibility. It's about Dallas Cowboys defensive end Chauncey Golston, a player who took full advantage of an opportunity in 2024 and had the best year of his career, but isn't one of those big names that will command market-resetting or top dollar. In fact, your average NFL fan probably hasn't heard his name.
Golston is a 6-foot-5, 268-pound defensive end that has really good length and can play multiple positions in an even or odd front. He ended up playing by far and away the most defensive snaps of his career in 2024 due to injuries along the Cowboys defensive line, at 72%, and the end result were career-bests across the board: 5.5 sacks, eight quarterback hits, five tackles for loss, five pass deflections and 56 total tackles. He even picked off Jayden Daniels in the Cowboys' crazy 34-26 win in Week 12, which is something not even a lot of the NFL's best defenses could do last year.
He also plays with a ton of hustle, which is what Dan Quinn instilled in him during their three years together in Dallas. Quinn was a part of the Cowboys team that drafted Golston in 2021, so he knows how to use him, which adds another reason as to why a move like this would make sense.
Chauncey Golston stepped up with the injury bug striking the Dallas Cowboys in 2024. In 13 starts, he racked up 5.5 sacks and five tackles for loss. Though his best football came upon Dan Quinn's departure from Dallas, that had more to do with opportunity than anything else. Golston's calling card is his versatility, having the ability to rush the passer from the inside. That makes him a strong scheme fit for Quinn, given he likes using NASCAR fronts on late downs and is a fan of designing funky pressures with DEs over the middle of the offensive line. He even played Golston at DT earlier in his career.
His length and power make him a reliable weapon and though he won't be the star of a defensive line, he'll make the most out of opportunities that present themselves thanks to his unrelenting effort. – Mauricio Rodriguez, A to Z Dallas
And, the best part: Golston's departure would weaken the Cowboys defense. It's always nice to directly impact a division rival in a negative way and this would certainly be an effective method of doing so.
Golston, Dante Fowler Jr., and Dorance Armstrong would field an effective rotation at defensive end
The above trio would make a lot of sense -and would work well- as a rotation. Fowler, like Golston, can play along the defensive line, but the key with him is he can get after it out of a two-point stance, whereas Golston and Armstrong are much more of your traditional hand-in-the-dirt pass rusher.
Just imagine a 3rd and 10 or something like that for an opposing offense. There would be so much opportunity for Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. to scheme up mismatches against the offensive line with those three. You could overload one side with all three, have Fowler mug the A-gap with the other two in certain positions, among plenty of other concepts. It would be a playground for Quinn and Whitt Jr.
We'll see what eventually happens, but a reunion makes a lot of sense, here. Especially when it can help the Commanders stay above the Cowboys in the NFC East.