The Cowboys have added another pass rusher to their 2022 roster, agreeing to a one-year contract with Dante Fowler. The 27-year-old defensive end played for Dan Quinn in Atlanta in 2020.
The third-overall pick in the 2015 Draft, Fowler tore his ACL during minicamps and missed his entire rookie season with Jacksonville. He came back to play in all 16 the games the next two years and had eight sacks in 2017.
Dante’s best year came in 2019, one year after being traded to the Rams. He posted a career-high 11.5 sacks and parlayed that into a lucrative free agent contract with the Falcons in 2020.
Dante hasn’t enjoyed the same success in Atlanta. He only put up three sacks in 2020 and 4.5 last season. But clearly, Dan Quinn still feels good enough about Fowler’s potential to add him to the mix in Dallas.
Fowler’s connection to Quinn may run deeper than just that one season with the Falcons. When he was drafted by Jacksonville in 2015, Gus Bradley was the head coach. Quinn worked under Bradley with the Seattle Seahawks when Gus was defensive coordinator and Dan coached the defensive line.
With Dorance Armstrong getting re-signed yesterday, Quinn’s Cowboys defense now has roughly the same DE group as last year. Fowler may not be able to replace everything Randy Gregory did, but hopefully the combination of he and Armstrong can form an effective rotation.
If nothing else, these moves help to shore up a key position before we get to the 2022 Draft.
