Set to turn 32 just before the start of the next NFL season, veteran defensive end Dante Fowler had a decision to make. The former first-round draft pick who had played for five different teams over 11 seasons felt as though he still had plenty in the tank. But with his second stint as a Dallas Cowboy apparently over, he found himself a free agent and shopping for a new opportunity.
That led to a conversation with former Cowboys teammate DeMarcus Lawrence, who had himself left the club one year prior and signed with the Seahawks.
The five-time Pro Bowler made a compelling argument as to why Fowler should join him in Seattle. Really, it came down to just two magic words.
“‘If you want to win a Super Bowl, you should come here,'” Fowler said Lawrence told him.
The say-less sales pitch worked. Fowler signed with Seattle on Monday.
Lawrence famously called his own championship shot in March 2025, just after signing with the Seahawks following 11 years as a Cowboy. Upon arriving in the Pacific Northwest, Lawrence stated plainly, “Dallas is my home … but I know for sure I’m not going to win a Super Bowl there.”
Eleven months later, he was holding the Lombardi Trophy.
Lawrence was a big part of the Seahawks’ dramatic turnaround, reuniting with former Cowboys defensive assistant Aden Durde to take Seattle from a group that missed the playoffs entirely in 2024 to the last team standing in 2025.
Durde’s instant success as Seahawks defensive coordinator certainly helped sweeten the pot for Fowler in making his decision.
“Me and him have a really great relationship going all the way back to when I was playing with the Falcons, and when we had a really great defense with the Cowboys. So just being able to come and play for him again as a defensive coordinator is really cool,” Fowler said.
“He knows what he’s talking about, he’s a general, and he makes guys want to run through a wall for him. He knows what it takes, he knows how to push you to where you need to go, and he knows how to get the best out of his players.”
Lawrence certainly enjoyed a resurgence under Durde after an injury-plagued final year with the Cowboys. His first year in Seattle (playoffs included), Lawrence started 19 of 20 games, had eight sacks (his highest one-year total since 2018) and forced six fumbles (returning two for a touchdown… in the same game) en route to his fifth Pro Bowl.
“The legacy he left [in Dallas], when he left, it was a big thing,” Fowler explained. “And to see him come here and see how great he played—he was very healthy, he took this defense to another level, and he won a Super Bowl, something that he has been talking about since I met him. So it was really cool to watch him in that position.”
Fowler now hopes to put himself on a similar path, playing alongside the guy who he says sealed the deal with his Super Bowl sales pitch.
“We talked for like 30 minutes on FaceTime, just chopping it up,” Fowler said of Lawrence, “and after that I made my decision.”
The Cowboys will travel to Seattle to face Fowler, Lawrence, and the Seahawks at some point during the 2026 season.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: DeMarcus Lawrence recruited former Cowboys teammate Dante Fowler to Seattle with 2 words
Reporting by Todd Brock, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
