Cowboys are on track to lose veteran in free agency after the best year of his career and it's no fault of their own
When it comes to blitzes and pass rush in general, teams are getting more and more creative regarding how they design/deploy their schemes/players, respectively. Therefore, guys who can play up and down the line and scrimmage have more value than ever before.It's just one of the many reasons why Dallas Cowboys defensive end Chauncey Golston […]
When it comes to blitzes and pass rush in general, teams are getting more and more creative regarding how they design/deploy their schemes/players, respectively. Therefore, guys who can play up and down the line and scrimmage have more value than ever before.
It's just one of the many reasons why Dallas Cowboys defensive end Chauncey Golston is free agency's best value at defensive end. The soon-to-be fifth-year player is coming off the best year of his career that showed that he can make plays from multiple positions up in front. He finished 2024 with career-best numbers across the board that included 5.5 sacks and an interception off Jayden Daniels, the Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Golston won't anchor anyone's pass rush and he shouldn't be expected to. He is, however, a chess piece that can be an effective rotational guy in the right spots. He can play outside and then kick inside on obvious passing downs. Injuries mostly forced him into playing a career-high 72% of defensive snaps after averaging about 30% through his first three years and he took full advantage of it, especially toward the end of the year where he recorded 3.5 of the aforementioned 5.5 sacks on the year.
He's also an OK run defender, which nearly completes his resume. He can certainly stand to improve in that area by working on his overall awareness and the stack-and-shed aspect of his game.
He has great size at 6-foot-5, 286-pounds, as well as length, that he uses well. He's also only 27-years-old, so his best football is still in front of him as a true hand-in-the-dirt defensive lineman. All of this, along with Golston's projected price tag make him a suitable target for basically any team looking for a supplemental defensive lineman to add to their roster.
Golston's projected market value in free agency will make him a popular target
NFL cap analysts Josh Queipo and Kyle DeDiminicantanio currently have Golston's projection at $6 million per year. Pro Football Focus has him at $6.25 million per year and Spotrac has his AAV at $7.3 million.
Spotrac's number is a bit high and honestly, their projections seem quite off, this year. There have been several players with eye-opening projections that just don't make sense. Regardless, it's a barometer that can be used, even if it's unlike Golston makes that much in free agency.
The prior two numbers make a lot of sense, however, and it's a great deal for a guy that's still in his prime and has a lot of good football ahead of him. Golston can easily come in and add a spark to a defense looking to supplement its pass rush.
Prediction
Considering the Cowboys have to pay Micah Parsons, it's highly unlikely Golston stays in Dallas. Plenty of teams will come calling (a reunion with Dan Quinn in Washington makes a lot of sense) and one of them are going to get a solid player at a good price, which is the pure definition of value, at the end of the day.