Former Dallas Cowboys $80 million player isn’t hiding how he feels about getting his chance at revenge in 2026
The Dallas Cowboys have no shortage of “revenge games” on their 2026 season, but few are as excited about getting a chance at payback as a standout defender whose exit felt particularly unfair.
One would think a four-year contract worth $80 million is enough to ensure you remain with a team for a long time. But it’s a cold, cold business and the Dallas Cowboys reminded one of their own about it earlier in the year.
I’m talking about defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, who was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange of a third-round pick—which the Cowboys later used to draft LB Jaishawn Barham.
Now, Odighizuwa is waiting for his turn for revenge. And he’s not hiding it.
Osa Odighizuwa excites about Cowboys vs 49ers
In an interview with Seattle Seahawks legend Richard Sherman, Odighizuwa addressed the game he has circled on the 49ers schedule and the response wasn’t surprising at all: the Week 10 showdown against the Cowboys.
“Speaking to the rivalry, this is a game that for a long time, it’s the game that you got a picture on a dart board and you’re throwing the knife at the picture and now I just take down the picture and I put up the other picture and I’m on the other side of it, but the energy is exactly the same,” Odighizuwa said.
Odighizuwa has a reason to want to beat Dallas
Trades in the league happen all the time. But Odighizuwa’s exit from the Cowboys felt like a particularly unfair one when it happened.
According to Jane Slater from NFL Network, Odighizuwa received a better offered from the Washington Commanders in 2025. He still took “significantly less” to stay in Dallas and built a house. He was in for the long run.
But the arrivals of Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams complicated things for the Cowboys, as they believed there was an excess of resources invested at defensive tackle. The rest is history. Dallas recouped a third-round pick going into the draft to make up for their absence of a pick after giving it up for George Pickens in 2025.
Odighizuwa was drafted by the Cowboys in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. In five years on the team, he started 76 of 84 games played, piling up 216 tackles, 17 sacks and 34 tackles for loss in that span, per Pro Football Reference. He also logged 81 QB hits and was considered one of the best pass rushing defensive tackles in the league.
Now, it’s up to the Cowboys to block him up and keep him off of Dak Prescott in November.