- The Cowboys’ defense is facing a radical shift in the wake of the Micah Parsons trade.
- While Jerry and Stephen Jones have emphasized improving the run defense, a pass rush that counted on Parsons’ disruption faces plenty of uncertainty.
- Dante Fowler Jr. might have to do a lot of the heavy lifting for a unit that otherwise features few proven products on the edge.
When things first began to click for Donovan Ezeiruaku in training camp, the Dallas Cowboys rookie sparked a competition of sorts with his fellow pass rushers.
‘We just had a two-minute period, and the first thing Dante (Fowler Jr.) said to me was, ‘I’ll meet you back there (in the backfield),” Ezeiruaku said in late July. ‘I said, ‘No, I’m going to get there first.’ And then the first play, I got back there so I asked, ‘Where you at?”
One month later, the Cowboys now are counting on Ezeiruaku, Fowler and a host of other faces to be the ones to hold court in opponents’ backfields.
On Thursday, Dallas agreed to trade two-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for two first-round draft picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark. The move served as a stunning resolution to the escalating friction between one of the league’s most accomplished young defensive stars and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, with the two having clashed over negotiations for a contract extension.
But regardless of what led to the split – Jones insisted it was driven by a belief that his team could be better both right away and well into the future – Dallas now must recalibrate a pass rush no longer ignited by Parsons, who not only offered prolific production but a gravitational pull for the rest of the defense. And with the season-opener against the defending-champion Philadelphia Eagles less than a week away, the unit has little time to sort things out.
Here’s a look at how the Cowboys might move forward, from this season and beyond:
Where do Cowboys go next in 2025 after Micah Parsons trade?
In terms of generating sacks and pressure from a singular source, replicating Parsons is a non-starter.
Parsons recorded 52 ½ sacks in four seasons in Dallas. The five defensive ends on the active roster – Ezeiruaku, Fowler, Marshawn Kneeland, Sam Williams and James Houston – have combined for 73 sacks in their careers. Last year’s defense ranked second in sack rate at 9.22% largely thanks to Parsons, who had twice as many sacks as any other player and created both clean-up opportunities and favorable looks for others with the attention he demanded.
But in changing the narrative to center on a run defense that was gashed through former coach Mike McCarthy’s previous playoff faceplants and final disappointment of a 7-10 season, Jones and his son Stephen, the team’s executive vice president, seemed to indicate the unit is shifting its focus rather than attempting to recreate what it once had.
“We feel like in addition to the depth, you can scheme pressure as well,” Stephen Jones said in a news conference Thursday evening. “I think (defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus) has been really good at that, in terms of using scheme to get pressure on the quarterback. But what is tough to scheme is to stop the run.’
Jerry Jones also left open the possibility that the team could use any of its four first-round draft picks in the next two years ‘to go get somebody right now.’ But between the scarcity of top pass rushers typically available on the market and the high cost that typically accompanies acquiring and paying players at the position, Dallas probably won’t have any sizable additions coming in the calendar year.
And that means cobbling together a pass rush in the aggregate.
Fowler might have to shoulder much of the early load. The 10th-year veteran enjoyed a surprising 2024 breakout that included 10 ½ sacks, with his eighth-ranked pass rush win rate placing him among the league’s elite. But operating as the main attraction is a steep challenge for the 31-year-old, and the players behind him are largely unproven.
Micah Parsons trade grades: Who won deal between Packers, Cowboys?
Kneeland, who looks set to hold down the other starting spot, did not record a sack as a rookie in 11 games. At 6-3 and a burly 275 pounds, the third-round pick is built to set edges and overwhelm blockers with his bull rush, but there’s not much more to his game at the moment. Williams remains a wild card after missing all of last season with multiple torn knee ligaments, though his pre-injury burst and fluidity made him a tantalizing prospect. Houston pushed his way into a roster spot with a promising camp and preseason performance. And Ezeiruaku, the second-round pick who ranked second in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2024 with 16 ½ sacks, might be called on to provide a spark even earlier than anticipated.
Cowboys’ 2026 free agency options
At this moment, the 2026 free agency class looks particularly promising at edge rusher. Don’t expect it to stay that way, though.
Pro Bowler Nik Bonitto seems like a virtual lock to stay with the Denver Broncos, while the Miami Dolphins likely won’t want to let Jaelan Phillips go so long as the 2021 first-round pick can stay healthy. Trey Hendrickson appears headed for his long-awaited split from the Cincinnati Bengals and a trip to the open market, but Jones almost surely would have reservations about paying top-of-market money to a sack artist nearly five years older than Parsons. And while the Seattle Seahawks’ Boye Mafe and Baltimore Ravens’ Odafe Oweh could price themselves out of their current teams’ plans, Jones has largely been content to surf the smaller later waves of free agency rather than make a big splash with marquee names.
Cowboys’ 2026 draft options
If the Cowboys are to draft another edge rusher after using three second-round picks at the position in the last four years, it would make sense for the team to target the kind of high-end difference-maker it lacks with Parsons gone.
Eight months out from the 2026 draft, the class doesn’t have a clear-cut, elite disruptor in the mold of Parsons or Abdul Carter, the fellow Penn State product who went No. 3 overall to the New York Giants in April. But plenty can change with an entire season still to play out.
Winners, losers of Micah Parsons trade: Ample fallout for Cowboys, Packers
Here are seven draft prospects who could be of interest to the Cowboys if the team sets its sights on a potential replacement for Parsons:
1. Keldric Faulk, Auburn
At 6-6 and 285 pounds, he’s potentially the picture of what the Cowboys are seeking for their new age on defense. Comfortable tossing aside blockers, he’ll be a force in the run game and help set the tone up front from Day 1. His seven sacks in 2024 belie his overall pass-rushing ability, which is still in need of refinement. But supersized, stout edge rushers are en vogue, and Faulk is the kind of project the Cowboys – or any other team – likely will be eager to take on.
2. T.J. Parker, Clemson
With 11 sacks, 19 ½ tackles for loss and six forced fumbles in 2024, he’s both one of the more proven and most promising edge rushers in this class. Parker might not be the overbearing force that teammate Peter Woods is along the front, but his disruptiveness against the pass is hard to match.
3. LT Overton, Alabama
Like Faulk, he fits the bill of the powerful inside-outside threat that Dallas seems to be gravitating toward. The 6-5, 283-pound former five-star recruit is very much a work in progress as a pass rusher after notching just two sacks last season, but he could flourish with the bevy of stunts, twists and slants Eberflus loves to employ.
4. Matayo Uiagalelei, Oregon
A 6-5, 272-pound defensive end nicknamed ‘Young Concrete’ has to be of interest to the Cowboys. Uiagalelei is among college football’s most forceful players, consistently tapping into a dogged pursuit that helps him wear down blockers.
5. Rueben Bain Jr., Miami (Fla.)
After a soft-tissue injury hampered him as a sophomore, Bain has some work to do to re-establish himself as a premier prospect. But if he’s able to recapture his form he displayed as a freshman, when he stormed onto the scene with 7 ½ sacks and consistent pressure, the 6-3, 275-pound power rusher should stir plenty of interest as a potential early pick.