Cowboys shouldn't place franchise tag on this highly-sought after free agent
The franchise tag window opens on Tuesday, marking the unofficial start of the 2025 offseason. While the start of the new league year is still a couple weeks off and the scouting combine has yet to commence, teams are going to declare their intentions on some of the biggest stars in the league set to hit free agency.
There is a two-week window for teams to lock in players under the franchise or transition tag designations, which will change the target’s landscape and restrict their movement possibilities. For the Dallas Cowboys, there seems to only be one player worthy of consideration for the tag; defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa.
The Cowboys will likely approach Odighizuwa to try and work out a long-term deal, but if they cannot work that out over the next two weeks, should they slap the franchise tag on him?
Odighizuwa is a former third-round pick who has started for pretty much the entirety of his young career, manning the middle of a defensive line that has been a pass-rushing force in the league for much of his tenure.
Odighizuwa may have turned in his best performance in a year when the rest of the team had a downturn, answering prior concerns about his ability to last through a 17-game season and finishing the last half of the year strong. Odighizuwa has always been atop the league in pressure stats, but he’s never been able to translate that into QB takedowns, scoring his career-high in sacks in 2024 with 4.5.
But he’s consistently in the backfield, notching 38 pressures as a rookie, 38 in Year 2, 44 in Year 3 and a whopping 60 in Year 4. His disruptive nature is key to being able to keep the QB from stepping up in the pocket and often allowing edge rushers to get into the backfield and take the passer down.
But a one-year commitment for $23.5 million, the cost of a franchise tender for a defensive tackle in 2025, may be too much. For one, the Cowboys are currently up against the cap. There are triggers in place on other contracts for the club to get $56 million under quickly, but using over one-third of that for Odighizuwa may be too much.
A long-term deal, if they want to retain him, so that the 2025 cap hit isn’t too severe, seems like the only viable choice.
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