How do you spell stability on the Dallas Cowboys defensive line?
It’s as easy as this: Osa Odighizuwa.
Since being drafted out of UCLA in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft, Odighizuwa has been a stable presence. He has started 51 straight games and 63 of the 67 he has played in over four seasons.
Better still, his numbers have been just as steady.
Which is why the Cowboys signed him to a four-year, $80 million deal on Wednesday.
While other defensive tackles have come and gone in Dallas, and one in particular is far too close to being labeled a bust, Odighizuwa has earned his big contract.
For his career, he has 13.5 sacks and 172 tackles, 28 going for a loss. He’s collected 58 quarterback hits, has defended a pass, and forced two fumbles.
Last year, he finished with career highs in sacks (4.5), tackles (47), and quarterback hits (23).
Odighizuwa collected his lone defended pass and forced a fumble in 2024 as well. His best game of the year came at Carolina when he had four tackles, a sack, and four quarterback hits.
His first contract, signed in 2021, paid him a total of just over $5 million for all four years combined.
This new contract pays him four times that amount, in each and every season for the next four years.
In short, Odighizuwa earned his new contract on the field. Now he’ll have to earn it for the next four seasons.
Roster Review 2025: Osa Odighizuwa. This is Part 24 of a series. Click here for a list of all related articles.
Outlook For 2025
He will probably earn that contract too. Odighizuwa is just that kind of player and not likely to rest on the fresh piles of money that were just delivered to his bank account.
If he gets help up the middle with improved play from Mazi Smith, he might exceed his career highs again in 2025.
A lot of that depends on new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. It will be up to the former Bears head coach to improve his two starting defensive tackles.
Stopping the run has been the Cowboys’ Achilles heel for a very long time.
If Smith steps up his game, and if Odighizuwa simply keeps his steady pace of progress over the previous year, that issue may go away.
Dallas’ investment in Odighizuwa would indicate they feel he will be a big part of the solution, both for this season and beyond.
If Odighizuwa can help slow down the opponents’ running game, he stands a good chance of also improving his pass rushing numbers as well.
With a little help, Odighizuwa could find his way onto his first Pro Bowl team at the end of the upcoming season.
Long-Term Outlook
The current contract appears to run through the 2028 season.
Barring injury, or a serious decline in production, the Cowboys seem to have secured an important piece of their front seven puzzle, a marked change over previous years in Dallas.
If Odighizuwa becomes part of a strong, revamped defensive unit, the Cowboys’ long and bitter drought of post-season failures could be coming to an end. There’s even better news to consider.
With a strong defense, and a balanced offense that puts points on the board instead of rushing the defense right back out on the field, we could be looking at a return to a 1970s/1990s-style postseason run.
Locking in Odighizuwa might just be the first step in that process. Right along with extending Micah Parsons, of course.