For whatever reason, the Dallas Cowboys management has avoided investing substantial capital into the safety and defensive tackle positions over the last decade-plus. A year ago Dallas attempted to bandage their defensive interior issues with short-term contracts to veterans like Dontari Poe and Gerald McCoy, but for different reasons neither player was able to positively contribute on the field for the Cowboys.
The Cowboys were left with young, unproven, mid-round draft picks, or undrafted free agents to hold down the middle of their defense, and the results were, as previously mentioned, unacceptable.
The Dallas defense was toward the bottom of the league in many metrics in 2020, but against the run is where they were really exposed. The Cowboys gave up 2,541 rushing yards this year, which equates to a staggering 158.8 per game, second-worst in NFL ahead of only Houston. The yards are nearly 1,000 more than Dallas has given up in any season over the last five years.
While Dallas’ end of season pass-rush numbers were adequate, it wasn’t because of the defensive tackles. The interior of the defensive line was never able to consistently generate a rush up the middle, and Cowboys tackles were only credited for 1.5 sacks in 2020 (Woods with 1.0, Gallimore with 0.5).
Obviously there are many contributing factors to the Cowboys poor defensive year, but improving the middle of the defensive line would also immediately make the jobs of the other nine defenders much easier.
Dallas will have to be extremely cap conscience with every signing they make this offseason. The Cowboys current cap situation, combined with their usual reluctance to sign high-profile free agents makes many of the names on this list seem like a pipe dream for Cowboys fans. However, if Dallas does choose to seriously address their defensive tackle needs, the following list contains potential players the Cowboys could consider.
The first five DT’s listed were pulled, in order, from PFF’s top 100 free agent rankings that were released earlier this year.