(Editor’s Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in ‘Mailbag’ presented by Miller Lite.)
Osa Odighizuwa was one of the few bright spots on defense last season. Why trade him away if you’re trying to get better? Especially after just having given him a new contract. Help me understand this please! – Kyle Cox/East Dubuque, IL
Nick: I think Osa is a really good player. I don’t think he had a really good contract. When you look at the numbers – there are 16 defensive tackles in the NFL that make over $20 million per season and the Cowboys have three of them. That’s not very good optics.
I think you can argue Osa is better and has more upside than Kenny Clark from an analytics standpoint, but it doesn’t sound like that’s what Christian Parker is trying to build on THIS defense. Sometimes we get caught up in PFF grades and other NFL reporters that talk about players overall, but not for the specific scheme. Look at the DTs the Cowboys have now, and they’re all around 300 pounds or more. Otto Ogbonna is a different looking player that the DTs we’ve seen here recently in Osa and Thomas.
Plus, getting a third-round pick in return for Osa and getting out from under that contract were other reasons the Cowboys decided to move on. If you’re loaded at one spot, you need to balance out the defense a little more than trading away a piece like that is one way to get it done.
It’s not great for the locker room considering what a leader Osa is but it’s one of those deals where the Cowboys are trying to change the defense and maybe he just wasn’t the right fit for what Parker is looking for.