Dallas Cowboys extending Osa Odighizuwa for $80 million is much bigger than it seems and it might get even better
The Dallas Cowboys did it. They reached a long-term contract extension with defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, it's a four-year deal worth $80 million including a $20 million signing bonus. That part isn't exactly surprising. Odighizuwa has put up some of the best pass rushing numbers by any defensive tackle in the […]
The Dallas Cowboys did it. They reached a long-term contract extension with defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, it's a four-year deal worth $80 million including a $20 million signing bonus.
That part isn't exactly surprising. Odighizuwa has put up some of the best pass rushing numbers by any defensive tackle in the league and at an average $20 million per year, the Cowboys defender will rank as the 14th highest-paid player at his position, which is a steal for the franchise.
What is a surprise is the timing of the deal. The Cowboys extended Odighizuwa hours away from Tuesday's franchise tag deadline, which is highly important and makes the news much bigger than it seems.
The Cowboys could've very well placed the tag on Odighizuwa to extend the negotiating period, something they've been no strangers to in the past. They placed the tag twice on quarterback Dak Prescott and even allowed him to play on it during the 2020 season.
Placing the tag on Osa would've caused a couple of problems that are avoided with the recently agreed to deal: 1) Players rarely appreciate being tagged as they have no say on it and keeps them from having long-term security and 2) Odighizuwa's cap hit would've been set at a completely inflexible $25 million. With a long term deal and based on the numbers we know so far, the defensive tackle's cap hit for the 2025 NFL season will surely be well under the $10 million mark.
The Cowboys getting Osa's extension done prior to the franchise tag deadline shows a different approach from what we're used to from the front office and it should be applauded.
Additionally and most importantly, defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus has his three-technique, a crucial need for his defensive scheme that mostly rushes four defenders. Keeping Odighizuwa will be huge for the Cowboys' defensive line, which only has Micah Parsons and Osa as proven threats.
Speaking of Parsons, the Cowboys can now move on to those negotiations to make him the highest-paid defender in league history. If that gets done early as well, specifically before free agency kicks off, the front office will regain the benefit of the doubt as it would lower Micah's cap hit and position the team to be spenders in free agency as they try to give new head coach Brian Schottenheimer the best squad possible.