{"id":47987,"date":"2025-05-13T09:30:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T09:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=47987"},"modified":"2025-05-13T09:30:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T09:30:25","slug":"breaking-cowboys-welcome-back-6-5-million-edge-rusher-just-in-time-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=47987","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Cowboys Welcome Back $6.5 Million Edge Rusher Just in Time&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1429718754-1.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1429718754-1.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1429718754-1.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1429718754-1.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Dallas Cowboys\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-dom-ready-time=\"634\" data-img-load-time=\"1466\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<p><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">The Dallas Cowboys are getting props for their edge rusher lineup going into 2025, especially one key member who was out for an injury.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0are heading into the 2025 season with a new coach in Brian Schottenheimer, and Schottenheimer knows that even though this will be his first year heading up the team, if the Cowboys don\u2019t see improvements, he\u2019s in trouble.<\/p>\n<p>Following the 2025 NFL draft, the Cowboys got mixed reviews for their selections, with NFL analyst and expert\u00a0Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN giving the team\u00a0a B grade for their 2025 draft selections, stating, \u201cOverall, this is a solid, if unspectacular, haul.\u201d His biggest quip seemed to be that the Cowboys waited until day three to get a running back in Phil Mafah, \u201cbut I had others rated over Jaydon Blue. Damien Martinez, Devin Neal and DJ Giddens were all higher in my rankings,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Going forward, the Dallas Cowboys are getting props for their edge rusher lineup going into 2025, especially one key member who was out last season for an injury.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Dallas Cowboys Get Props for Edge Rusher Unit<\/h2>\n<p>In a May 5 feature for ESPN, their\u00a0NFL Nation team discusses the most improved aspects\u00a0of each NFL team following the draft. For their research, EPSN utilized a power panel of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities to evaluate how NFL teams stack up against one another, ranking them from 1 to 32.<\/p>\n<p>In the piece, ESPN highlights the highest profile picks, noting, \u201cThe\u00a0Titans\u00a0took quarterback\u00a0Cam Ward\u00a0with the No. 1 pick, the\u00a0Packers\u00a0selected wide receiver Matthew Golden at No. 23, and the\u00a0Eagles beefed up their linebacker room with Jihaad Campbell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For the Dallas Cowboys, they praise the team\u2019s edge rusher unit following the draft. That alone made their post-free agency ranking go up by 21.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLosing DeMarcus Lawrence in free agency is a tough blow, but he played only four games last season,\u201d Todd Archer noted in the feature. \u201cThe Cowboys will welcome back Sam Williams, a 2022 second-round pick who did not play last year because of a torn ACL.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added, \u201cThey signed Dante Fowler Jr., who had 10.5 sacks last season in Washington. They drafted Donovan Ezeiruaku in the second round after he was second in the FBS with 16.5 sacks in 2024. And they brought in defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton, who carries a reputation as a developer of talent.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Cowboys\u2019 Sam Williams is Ready to Rock<\/h2>\n<p>In the ESPN piece, Archer highlighted Williams as being a key piece of the puzzle back in the fold. Williams was expected to be a hot player in 2024, but he suffered an injury at the beginning of training camp that resulted in a torn ACL. But, when Williams is fully ready to be back with the team,\u00a0Patrik Walker of the Dallas Cowboys\u2019 website says\u00a0he will be golden.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s undetermined yet if Williams will begin this year\u2019s training camp on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list, and that is something to keep an eye on but, once he does return to the field, you can expect to see a starved animal looking for a meal during every one of his snaps,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<p>In 2022, Sam Williams signed a 4 year, $6,526,744 contract with the Dallas Cowboys, including $2,009,220 signing bonus, $2,997,141 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $1,631,686,\u00a0according to Spotrac.<\/p>\n<p>The 2025 NFL season will officially start with the\u00a0NFL Kickoff Game\u00a0on Thursday, September 4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty The Dallas Cowboys are getting props for their edge rusher lineup going into 2025, especially one key member who was out for an injury. The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0are&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Cowboys Welcome Back $6.5 Million Edge Rusher Just in Time... - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=47987\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Cowboys Welcome Back $6.5 Million Edge Rusher Just in Time... - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty The Dallas Cowboys are getting props for their edge rusher lineup going into 2025, especially one key member who was out for an injury. 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