(Editor's note: The content provided is based on opinions and/or perspective of the DallasCowboys.com editorial staff and not the Cowboys football staff or organization.)
FRISCO, TX — Yeah, sure, I hear you. Despite the loss of four-time Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence to injured reserve with a foot sprain and a high ankle sprain relegating all-world edge rusher Micah Parsons to a week-to-week status, the Dallas Cowboys are standing somewhat firmly on how they'll "likely" refrain from seeking meaningful assistance from outside of the building.
Well, seeing as likely is not, by definition, a guarantee — hear me out, Jerry and Stephen — because a depth chart without depth is literally just a chart.
There should be plenty of confidence in what rookie second-round pick Marshawn Kneeland can provide, but he can't fill in for three players at the same time, namely Parsons, Lawrence and Sam Williams, the latter being whom he was initially tasked with replacing after Williams suffered a torn ACL in late July.
So, sure, he'll see that many more reps over the next several weeks, but he isn't Michael Keaton in "Multiplicity", nor is he Dr. Strange in the mirror dimension. Point being to avoid falling into the time loop of hovering around .500 or worse until further notice, and instead striking a deal, Dormammu.
But, first, who's in the building?
First in Line
Chauncey Golston will get the biggest opportunity of his career when he's looked upon to move back to the defensive end position, and in a contract year, no less, but notice I said he'll be moving back, indicating he's not been full-time at the position since he left Iowa in 2021 and was mostly converted to a 3-technique by then defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
The talent is there, but so is the equally weighted unknown.
And speaking of the unknown, special teams standout Tyrus Wheat has been mostly relegated to exactly that, special teams, having played in only 44 defensive snaps in his young NFL career versus a combined 240 for John "Bones" Fassel. For contrast, Kneeland already has 108 defensive snaps under his belt in only four games as a professional football player.
It also has to be said that the lack of depth at the defensive end also creates a butterfly effect that siphons players like Kneeland, Wheat and Golston (515 career snaps on that unit) away from special teams for the sake of durability, and the recent addition of KJ Henry may not be enough to salve that wound.
Henry will contribute on special teams, but that must be balanced with what he'll be asked to do in rotation with Golston, Kneeland and Wheat but, sans Golston, there isn't a lot of experience to lean on and for a team that, to a large degree, still has football milk on its breath, it just makes sense to add some proven ability — e.g., Carl Lawson this season.
The Squadders
Lawson should see his opportunities increase as they have over the last two games, from just eight defensive snaps against the Baltimore Ravens to 21 defensive snaps against the New York Giants, but he's a practice squad player allowed only one additional elevation.
Uno.
After that, he'd have to either be added to the active roster or released with hopes re-signing him to the practice squad to restart the three-step dance all over again. Doable, sure, but it also carries the risk of Lawson waving goodbye for a team that promises him a spot on their 53-man roster. That makes the ground beneath the Lawson option unstable, and therefore not yet dependable when trying to figure out this overall equation.
There's Phil Hoskins on the practice squad as well, but he's more of a defensive tackle than one you'd willfully place on the end of your defensive line.
And, with that, let's discuss the science on some free agents that make the most sense for the Cowboys in their time of need at defensive end, regardless of if the name is familiar or not.
With roughly $23 million in current cap space, thanks to the new contracts agreed to by Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb (because they created more room, by the way), there's plenty of room to add any one of the following on a veteran minimum deal or similar; and still have the majority of the cap to roll over into 2025.
So, let's talk turkey, and stuffing. And maybe some cornbread, too.
[A quick love letter to the NFL front office: To avoid tampering charges, I will avoid discussing trades and/or any players currently under contract on another team's practice squad.]
[Advanced metrics via NextGen Stats]
Top Opts
Shaq Lawson, DE
Age: 30
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 265 lbs
It's purely coincidental that after having signed one Lawson a few weeks ago that I'm here hoping for a look at another and, more specifically, one that has had an eerily comparable NFL career to this point.
Hell, they're almost the same age as well, and both are roughly 6-foot-3 and 265 pounds. It's eerie, right? That's not a bad thing though, because it means you'd be adding another proven and prototypical defensive end to the mix — one who was a former 19th-overall pick who, at times, has been more impactful than the other Lawson that's already on the roster.
Career stats:
- 109 games
- 38 starts
- 207 tackles (41 TFL)
- 26 sacks
- 7 forced fumbles
- 2 fumble recoveries
Advanced pass rush stats from peak season (2019):
- 39 QB pressures (19 QBP in 2023)
- 23 quarterback hits (9 QBP in 2023)
- 1 turnovers created by pressure (1 TOQBP in 2023)
- 0.88s average get-off (0.90s AGO in 2023)
The added beauty of Shaq Lawson is that he's also effective against the run, the differential of average rushing yards per carry going down one-fifth of a yard (-0.2) whenever he was on the field in 2023 in his second stint with the Buffalo Bills (141 snaps in run defense). As a pass rusher, it's evident he still has tread left on his tires, because while his numbers have declined over his peak season from two campaigns ago, the quickness of his get-off is nearly the same as it was then, and the fact he played in 213 fewer snaps lends to the downturn as well.
His efficiency, however, hasn't lost much of a step, and that's what is key here — dropping only one percentage point each season since he peaked in 2019 (14.8% QBP production versus pass rush snap count in 2019 versus 11.7% QBP production versus pass rush snap count in 2023).
In other words, following that trajectory and using easy math, it would be reasonable to predict Lawson delivering 10 quarterback pressures for every 100 times he's sent at the quarterback.
Henry, who is five years Lawson's junior, had an efficiency percentage of 6.3 percent in quarterback pressures in his peak season as a rookie with the Commanders in 2023.
That should put into perspective how impactful Lawson still might be.
Rasheem Green, DE
Age: 27
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 280 lbs
Looking for something with more of a new car smell, then follow your nose like a certain Looped toucan right to the front door of Green. Like Lawson, Green has the height and weight to avoid being thrown out of the club easily by strong offensive tackles and, also like Lawson, he's earned some chops in the NFL.
Career stats:
- 86 games
- 29 starts
- 151 tackles (19 TFL)
- 19 sacks
- 3 forced fumble
- 2 fumble recoveries
Advanced pass rush stats from peak season (2021):
- 33 QB pressures (17 QBP in 2023)
- 21 quarterback hits (7 QBP in 2023)
- 2 turnovers created by pressure (none in 2023)
- 0.90s average get-off (0.84s AGO in 2023)
A former third-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks in 2018, Green was a top-100 pick in his respective NFL Draft out of USC, where he was an All-Pac 12 talent for USC. He spent his entire rookie contract in the Pacific Northwest as one of the better edge setters against the run who could also get after the passer to an above average degree.
For a team that needs to ensure they're building consistency in stopping the run, and without Parsons and Lawrence, Green would make a ton of sense for Dallas. And if you would kindly take a look at his get-off timing as well, it being a half-second better than Lawson's and, for comparison, right on par with that of Lawrence (0.85s average over the past two seasons).
I wouldn't put too much stock in the decline in production over the past two seasons, considering his defensive snap count in 2021 was 846, which changed to 568 for the Houston Texans in 2022 and then 385 for the wildly confused Chicago Bears in 2023.
That's a 55 percent decrease in opportunities in a two-year span, but his production has dropped only 48 percent (+7% production to rep variance).
Ah, there goes that efficiency metric again, saying things that matter to your eyeballs.
Bottom line? You could definitely do worse than giving Green a test drive.
Marquis Haynes, OLB
Age: 30
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 235 lbs
We've discussed two true defensive ends, and now it's time to look at the outside linebackers for more of what could be viewed as a band-aid for Parsons. There's no way to sugarcoat the fact you can not, under any circumstances, view anyone on the planet as a replacement for what Parsons is/does, but let's also not pretend that fact creates the luxury of complacency.
Granted, you can't stop the river from coming through the broken dam, but you can start stacking sandbags before the water reaches and destroys the village.
Haynes is a good quality sandbag, if used properly.
Career stats:
- 71 games
- 2 starts
- 99 tackles (18 TFL)
- 14 sacks
- 1 forced fumble
- 4 fumble recoveries
Advanced pass rush stats from peak season (2022):
- 31 QB pressures
- 20 quarterback hits
- 1 turnovers created by pressure
- 0.76s average get-off
Here lies more NFL experience waiting to join the fray, a former fourth-round pick of the Carolina Panthers in 2018 who stayed put in Charlotte until 2024, when he joined the Arizona Cardinals for a short stay this past summer.
Each player on this list (in the Top Opts section) has been extremely durable throughout their time in the NFL, something the Cowboys could benefit from in seeking assistance from free agents, and Haynes is no different with the exception of a back injury that cost him some time at the beginning of the 2023 season. He'd go on to be activated in November and suffer a concussion scare in late December, but he's long been cleared of any potential issues there.
As far as his attributes go, he too can get after the opposing quarterback and a reason why is his quick twitch off of the edge. Haynes has the quickest get-off of any one of my top four options here, directly comparable to that of Dorance Armstrong (0.77s in 2023) and Dante Fowler (0.74s in 2023).
So if you're trying to replace those two, and Williams (0.72s in 2023) with the assistance of Haynes, just know you're not losing anything as far as get-up-and-go is concerned. And his peak production goes toe-to-toe with that of both Green and Lawson.
Just don't go lining him up often at anything inside of 5-technique, because you'd be doing neither him nor the Cowboys any favors, seeing as (and say it with me), he's not Micah Parsons.
Haynes is closer to a true outside linebacker, so deploy him accordingly and you could very well be rewarded for it.
Myjai Sanders, OLB
Age: 26
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 247 lbs
Getting back to the younger side of the scale, Sanders intrigues me enough for some good ole fashioned kicking of some lightly used tires. Another true outside linebacker, though with a bit more mass and height than Haynes, I could view him as a tweener who could provide some versatility as a 3-technique, at times, but don't make that a habit.
As far as experience goes, Sanders isn't devoid of it, despite being just 26 years old, and it's in part due to the fact he's a former top-100 draft pick.
Career stats:
- 20 games
- 4 starts
- 30 tackles (3 TFL)
- 3 sacks
- 1 forced fumble
- 1 fumble recovery
Advanced pass rush stats from peak season (2022):
- 19 QB pressures
- 9 quarterback hits
- 2 turnovers created by pressure
- 0.84s average get-off
It was the Cardinals that gave Sanders the nod in 2022 in the third round, out of Cincinnati, where he earned honors as a two-time First-Team All AAC defensive end but, at the NFL level, his size puts him closer to that of an outside linebacker. Either way, he's got potential and youth, a combination of attributes the Cowboys adore.
He most recently tried his hand with the Houston Texans, but considering how flush they are with talent, it proved a tough nut to crack in South Texas — a wildly different scenario in hopping on I-45 to North Texas.
What jumps out at you here is the fact he's averaging nearly a pressure for every game he's been available, and nine quarterback hits with two turnovers created by his pressures, despite having only four starts on his short resumé (all three of his sacks occurring as a rookie when he was granted those four starts).
That is very, very efficient (ah, that word again!) and is too attractive for a suddenly needy Cowboys' team to rightfully ignore, in my humble opinion.
Tread Check
Justin Houston, Melvin Ingram, Frank Clark
If you're looking for the mercenaries with the most stripes, here you are, but beware their is more risk accompanying Houston, Ingram and Clark, if only because Ingram and Clark will be in their late 30s in the next several months. That isn't true of Clark, though, having just turned 31 years old in June, but he remains older than the four I named as Top Opts.
You have to love what Houston showed as recently as in 2022, though. At one point, through the first nine weeks of that season, he had at least one sack for every 10 snaps played and the second-highest sack tally (8.5) in the entire NFL while playing 100 fewer pass rush snaps than the player in first place at the time (wow).
That said, pedigree is something Clark has in spades. A three-time Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs, Clark knows what it takes to get to and win the Big Game. He's not had a sack since 2022, however, and could stick with neither the downtrodden Broncos in 2023 nor the Seattle Seahawks — an indication his best days might be far behind him.
Beggars can't be choosy, fair enough, so be choosy before you need to start begging.
I view these three veterans as "break glass in case of emergency" as in, for some reason, none of the others wanted to play nice contractually.
Been There, Done With That?
Al-Quadin Muhammad, Shaka Toney, Villiami Fehoko
Both Toney and Muhammad were in the workout group in Oxnard that included Carl Lawson, getting the initial nod over Lawson before Toney was waived/injured in training camp and replaced by Lawson. Muhammad put plenty of good things on film in the preseason and in camp practices, but was eventually let go before he could serve his mandatory one-game suspension.
Fehoko is a former fourth-round pick of the Cowboys (2023) who, only 16 months later, was shown the door as Mike Zimmer replaced Dan Quinn in the defensive coordinator position and, truth be told, Fehoko also couldn't crack Quinn's rotation as he failed to log a single NFL snap in either regime.
It might also be telling that after seeing Quinn poach several players from the Cowboys, he hasn't grabbed Fehoko in free agency after weeks of the latter being available.
Randy Gregory
As for Gregory, now that's a long story. It's a career nearly derailed by the prior Collective Bargaining Agreement/League Substance Abuse Policy that began to find new life en route to a bidding war that led to controversy and Gregory departing for the Denver Broncos in 2022 free agency.
He's since spent time with the San Francisco 49ers (2023) and then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2024), never taking the field for the Bucs and instead reaching an agreement with that team to part ways. Word has it that Gregory was expected to retire afterwards, and while it's not been confirmed that he has, it's telling of his likely mindset in being done with the NFL.
To the fans: There are no indications right now that the Cowboys are interested in re-pursuing any of the names in this group.
I'd be in on a return of Muhammad, but it feels like they simply aren't.
Mr. Telephone Man
To the Joneses: Treat this as you did the linebacker and defensive tackle position this summer. Yes, there are those within the locker room capable of showing up and helping you to avoid potential disaster, but insurance demands consideration into taking a look at [Shaq] Lawson, Rasheem Green, Marquis Haynes and/or Myjai Sanders to see if a deal can be worked out.
It's better to have and not need than to need and not have, and that's especially true when you already have a need to begin with, because then you need more anyway.
So go ahead and give them a call, for the culture.
Here, you can even use my phone.
