The Dallas Cowboys are reshaping their defensive line in a significant way this week, and the moves are coming in rapid succession. The team has agreed to trade defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a 2026 third round draft pick, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Todd Archer. Separately, defensive lineman Solomon Thomas is heading to the Tennessee Titans in a seventh round pick swap.
The deals represent the second and third trades Dallas has executed within a three day span and reflect a deliberate effort to manage cap space, recoup draft capital and consolidate at a position that was dramatically overhauled when the Cowboys acquired Pro Bowler Kenny Clark and All Pro Quinnen Williams earlier this offseason.
Why Odighizuwa is available despite an $80 million extension
The trade carries an element of surprise given that Dallas signed Odighizuwa to a four year, $80 million contract extension as recently as March 2025 a deal that spoke to how highly the organization valued him at the time. The 27 year old had earned that contract through steady development over four seasons, culminating in a career best performance under Mike Zimmer’s system in which he posted 4.5 sacks, 47 tackles and 23 quarterback hits 10 more than his previous single season best in that category.
The 2025 season told a different story. Odighizuwa managed 3.5 sacks and 44 tackles across 17 games, a modest return that coincided with the arrivals of Clark and Williams additions that fundamentally changed the landscape of Dallas’s defensive interior and made it significantly harder for any single player to find consistent opportunities. Carving out a productive role in Matt Eberflus system while competing for snaps alongside two premium acquisitions proved to be a difficult adjustment, and his production reflected that.
With Odighizuwa carrying a $16.25 million base salary for 2026 and under contract through 2028, the Cowboys faced a straightforward calculation: move him for value now, or continue paying a significant salary for a player whose role had been squeezed by the additions the organization itself had made.
What Dallas gains from both trades
The Odighizuwa trade delivers two concrete benefits for Dallas. First, the Cowboys reclaim a 2026 third round pick a meaningful piece of draft capital that they did not previously hold. Second, the $16.25 million in base salary transfers to San Francisco’s books, with Dallas capturing approximately $4.75 million in cap savings in the process.
The Thomas deal adds another $2.5 million in cap relief. Thomas, 30, joined Dallas last year on a two-year deal and served as a productive rotational piece despite dealing with injuries during the 2025 season. He is heading to Tennessee to reunite with new Titans head coach Robert Saleh, under whom Thomas previously played with both the 49ers and the New York Jets. Adding a layer of familiarity, Thomas will also be reuniting with defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton for the third time in his career Whitecotton now serving in that same role under Saleh in Nashville.
What the Cowboys’ defensive line looks like now
With Odighizuwa and Thomas out, Dallas’s defensive interior is centered on Clark and Williams, both of whom were acquired specifically to upgrade the position at the top end. The Cowboys have also signed Otito Ogbonnia and have second year player Jay Toia available as depth, giving the group a clear hierarchy even after the departures.
The decision to move Odighizuwa less than a year after awarding him a major extension underscores how significantly the team’s priorities shifted when the Clark and Williams acquisitions came together. It is a reminder that in today’s NFL, contracts and roster construction can change direction quickly when an organization decides to pursue a different approach and that even well compensated players are not insulated from those decisions.
What San Francisco gets
For the 49ers, Odighizuwa arrives as a 27 year old with 17 career sacks and 216 career tackles who has proven his ability to produce in the right environment. San Francisco is betting that a change of scenery and a fresh defensive system will help him return to the form he showed in 2024, when he was productive enough to earn a major contract from one of the NFL’s more respected front offices. At the cost of a third round pick for a player already signed through 2028, it is the kind of calculated risk that contending teams take when they identify a talent they believe is underperforming relative to his actual ability.
