When the Cowboys lost Randy Gregory in the offseason of 2022, they had to scramble. They were banking on their former second-round pick to start in their EDGE rotation so losing him at the 11th hour required quick thinking to rebound.
Dallas pivoted, inking Dorance Armstrong to a two-year contract immediately. To complete the triage, they then turned their attention to a free agent veteran with strong ties to Dan Quinn, Dante Fowler Jr.
Fowler, a former third-overall pick from Atlanta, was with Quinn when he was head coach of the Falcons. While Fowler never quite lived up to his billing as a top-five pick, he was a talented and proven entity who represented a big win for the Cowboys as a Plan B option.
As luck would have it, everything fell into place in 2022. Micah Parsons would go on to have an All-Pro season. DeMarcus Lawrence would have yet another brilliant campaign. Armstrong posted career numbers and rookie Sam Williams looked like a bona fide steal as a second rounder. And Fowler was every bit as advertised as the veteran pass-rushing specialist.
The best part is, all five return in 2023.
The Cowboys have what is called “an embarrassment of riches” at the defensive end position. They have enough good EDGE players to field two NFL teams.
If everyone stays healthy through training camp they may have a real champaign problem on their hands – more players than snaps available. It’s only natural to look for the odd man out in their circumstance and the way things look today it may be Fowler.
It’s safe to say Parsons is going to get as many snaps as he can handle in 2023. Lawrence will also surely get his and as discussed previously, Williams needs to see a major uptick in his bid to cross the 10-sack threshold. And Armstrong finished second on the team in sacks in 2022, so he’s sure to get plenty of opportunities in the rotation as well.
This doesn’t leave many snaps left over for players like Fowler. Based on age, contract and controllability, Fowler already finds himself on the bubble. If any of the young, less-heralded options like Tyrus Wheat, Durrell Johnson or Isaiah Land flash in training camp, it could be game over for the soon-to-be 29-year-old Fowler in Dallas.
Dante Fowler isn’t quite a lock to make the Cowboys roster in 2023. At a cost of $3M (only $1M guaranteed) he may be too expensive to keep if he slips down the pecking order in the DE rotation pic.twitter.com/oWqmRXeDxC
— Reid D Hanson (@ReidDHanson) July 4, 2023
The Cowboys signed Fowler to a 1-year, $3 million deal in March that guarantees $1 million and could pay out as much as $4 million per Todd Archer. If they don’t think they will use him enough to justify his $1,500,000 base salary and per-game roster bonus’ they could deem him expendable.
It’s going to be difficult to justify Fowler getting more snaps than Williams again this season so his workload is likely to suffer. And though Fowler produced well as a pass-rusher (36 pressures and 6 sacks per PFF) he was a liability against the run.
Fowler is still an excellent EDGE player in the NFL and the Cowboys have plenty of cap space to pay him if he’s going to be a contributor like last season. But if Dallas filters more snaps to their younger developing players, it may be tough to justify Fowler’s place on the roster.
This is all just something to keep in mind when Cowboys Camp opens up on July 27 in Oxnard.
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