It wouldn’t normally be seen as a wise idea to subtract talent from one of the worst defenses in Cowboys history, but that is exactly what Dallas has done on Wednesday. The club is trading defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a third-round pick.
The selection is No. 92 overall. Word first surfaced when Odighizuwa was mentioned to be part of a potential trade package for Raiders star edge Maxx Crosby, that had a lot of controversy after the tweet was deleted, but now the UCLA product ends up heading back to the west coast.
Odighizuwa signed a four-year, $80 million contract, with $52 million guaranteed, just last offseason. His departure now leaves Dallas with $16.75 million in dead cap space but does save the team $4.7 million of cap space.
He was originally a third-round pick from the 2021 NFL Draft and in five seasons Odighizuwa recorded 17 sacks, 216 tackles, and 81 QB hits. He also had 34 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. Odighizuwa appeared in 84 games, starting 76.
He was, however, seen as not a great fit as the team is transitioning to a 3-4 front for new defensive coordinator Christian Parker. With Quinnen Williams’ acquisition during last season, the Cowboys had three tackles all scheduled to count over $20 million against their cap this season. Dallas had already restructured Kenny Clark’s bonus to create $8.8 million of space.
On the positive side, the Cowboys won’t have to sit out on the second day on of the 2026 NFL Draft. Armed with two first-round picks, Dallas traded away their second-round pick as part of the Williams acquisition, and their third rounder to acquire wideout George Pickens last May.
The Cowboys interest in defensive lineman at the 2026 scouting combine now makes more sense as the team has moved on from one of their premier interior defenders.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys trade DT to 49ers one year after giving him an $80M deal
Reporting by Angel Torres, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
