Inside The Star
Free agency doesn’t officially begin until March 12th, but that doesn’t mean the Dallas Cowboys aren’t already eyeing who will get a franchise tag this year.
Given just how many free agents the Cowboys will see hit the market once the 2024 league year ends, it seems likely the tag will be used.
Not every position is equal when it comes to the tag either.
While no final number has been set, a defensive lineman would get roughly $23 million under the tag while a running back only around $13 million.
A kicker or punter would get around six or seven million. Because nobody loves those guys until you’re down by two with three seconds left in the game.
The cost will clearly be factored into the Cowboys’ decision.
So, who is likely to get tagged? There are two likely candidates, one on each side of the ball.
Here’s who to expect to draw the franchise tag in 2025:
The biggest free agent target on last season’s roster is defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa. The 26-year-old from UCLA has earned a total of just under seven million dollars in his four-year career.
It’s time for him to collect a big paycheck.
Unfortunately for Dallas, he has plenty of suitors lining up bearing large bags of Benjamins.
One of those suitors is reportedly Dan Quinn in Washington.
Since you all seem to enjoy my obscure movie references: “Hey Dan, get your paws off our defensive tackle, you damn, dirty ape!”
I know we all loved Quinn back in 2022-23. But he went to the dark side and joined the evil empire, so phooey on him.
Not that you could blame Quinn though for coveting Odighizuwa after seeing first hand what the former Bruin can do.
He has started in 63 of the 67 games he has played in, including every game for the last three seasons.
He has 13.5 career sacks and 172 tackles with 28 going for a loss. Odighizuwa also has 58 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, a defended a pass just last year.
He had career high numbers in nearly every category last year.
Projections have him landing a contract in the $25 million a year range. Would the Cowboys’ front office pull the trigger on that given how many holes they need to fill?
Of course, smarter contract decisions would have freed up more money to cover a player like Odighizuwa.
The Cowboys could buy themselves a year, and save about $2 million, by tagging Odighizuwa.
Signed as an undrafted free agent out of South Carolina in 2020, Dowdle has only earned $4.28 million in five years.
He’ll join a hefty group of free agent running backs this spring. The draft is also deep at the position.
It seems highly unlikely the Cowboys would pay him that much, unless they can’t land one of the other free agents and aren’t confident of getting a running back in the draft.
Nor does it...
