When the Dallas Cowboys extended starting right tackle Terence Steele in the summer of 2023, to a five-year $86,800,000 contract, it was met with mixed reviews. Steele was coming off a breakout season where he ranked as one of the best run blocking tackles in the NFL. Unfortunately, he was also coming off a significant knee injury that threatened to impact the coming season.
As fortune would have it, Steele would live up to his namesake and play all 17 games in 2023. In fact, Steele has played every game, in every season since signing that massive extension in 2023. All in all, it was a great investment for the Cowboys if everyone could look beyond those pesky, pass-protection issues.
Even before the knee injury in 2023, Steele has struggled with the pass protection element to his game. The 6-foot-6, 310-pound road-grader out of Texas Tech has consistently graded at the bottom of the grades pool in. Pro Football Focus, which praises his elite run blocking ability, frequently ranks Steele’s pass protection at the bottom of the league. He grades below starters, below swing tackles, even often below bubble players just lucky to be in the league.
This bi-polar gameplay of Steele’s has made him a very difficult player to evaluate over the years. When the running game is strong and Dak Prescott isn’t expected to do everything from the pocket to keep the offense working, Steele’s issues in pass protection are manageable. But when the running game can’t carry its weight and Prescott is the only source of ball movement, Steele’s deficiencies become untenable. It’s led to frequent criticism and regular calls to replace.
In 2026, the climate for Steele has changed in Dallas. After accepting a slightly reduced deal over the offseason, Steele isn’t quite the underachiever he once was. According to Over the Cap, Steele ranks a digestible 12th in right tackle contract value these days, and his cap number only exceeds $9M once in the next three seasons. For the first time in a longtime there’s an argument to made that Steele is worth the price of admission.
There’s an ugly tactic that has gained popularity inside the arena of debate is called “strawman arguments.”
A strawman argument is a way of reframing an opposing argument to make it more suspectable to criticism and more beatable in debate. A steelman argument is the anthesis of this. It’s the act of making the opposing argument as strong as it can possibly be before an open debate. It’s a far more respectable form of framing, even if it’s extremely rare to see.
To steelman Steele, one simply needs to focus on everything not named pass-protection. Steele consistently ranks as one of the best run blocking tackles in the NFL. He’s never reclaimed the level he enjoyed next to Zack Martin in 2022, but he’s a dominating force, nonetheless. There’s also the reliability to consider: Steele made a near-miraculous recovery from his 2022 season-ending injury and has made every single start since. One needs only look at Tyler Guyton’s availably at left tackle to see the value in durability. Finally, it’s the intangibles that make Steele such an asset. Steele has frequently endeared himself to coaching staffs over the years. His commitment to improve has won him praise in the offseason and respect from his peers. This might not matter much to Sunday afternoon fans, but it means a ton to the Cowboys.
Steele can always be criticized for his pass protection. At age 29, he is what he is, in those respects. But everything else he brings to the table, and under the parameters of a new contract, Steele is a major asset to the offensive line and the Cowboys in general. The Steele-man makes his own argument.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Steele-man argument: How the Cowboys $86.8M player is finally worth it
Reporting by Reid D Hanson, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Reid D Hanson, Cowboys Wire | USA TODAY Network
