Start the Steal: Cowboys reunite with $68 million edge who had 10 sacks for DC in 2024
The Dallas Cowboys have continued their assault on available former first-round picks with another addition to their defensive line. Not since the Cowboys signed defensive end Greg Hardy in 2015 had Dallas brought in an outside free agent who cost the team more than $6 million annually. However, that streak has now been broken as the team inked Commanders pass rusher Dante Fowler to a one-year contract on Friday. The deal is worth up to $8 million.
Fowler played with Dallas for two years, from 2022 through 2023, before following former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to Washington where he recorded 10.5 sacks en route to an NFC Championship game appearance. He's now back in the Lonestar state, staying in the NFC East for the fourth season in a row.
Reunion: #Commanders FA edge Dante Fowler Jr, one of the top players available, is signing with the #Cowboys on a 1-year, $8M deal, per The Insiders.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2025
A full-circle moment, as Fowler was in Dallas in 2022-23. Deal negotiated by Sean Kiernan and Tom Povinelli of @AthletesFirst. pic.twitter.com/NJqW7ppmj8
The 30-year-old Fowler was the third overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft, and has made over $68 million in career earnings. He lost his rookie season with Jacksonville to a torn ACL. He has been relatively healthy since, but had found solace in playing under Dan Quinn, who recruited him to play his college football at the University of Florida. The defensive end took to social media to voice his displeasure with the lack of opportunities on the free agent market.
Fowler's sack totals in 2024 were second only to his 2019 campaign with the Rams in which he recorded a career high 11.5 sacks.
Adding Fowler suddenly gives Dallas plenty of options on the edges. Starting with superstar Micah Parsons, Fowler gives Dallas a veteran option alongside second-year man Marshawn Kneeland and Sam Williams, who is rehabbing his way back from a torn ACL suffered in training camp last season. The club also signed Payton Turner. Another former first-round pick who is trying to overcome early-career injuries.
Fowler returns to Dallas fresh off playoff success that has escaped the franchise, and hopefully the experience can assist new Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and this remade defense lock in for a deep playoff run.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Free Agency: Dallas Cowboys bring DE Dante Fowler back from Commanders
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