March 14, 2026, 9:57 a.m. CT
The Dallas Cowboys didn’t have a need at defensive tackle when the offseason began, but they do now. Following moves made throughout the 2025 off-and-regular seasons, Dallas acquired what most considered to be the most complete interior defender rotation in the NFL.
But now, as the free agency window creeps shut, not only do the Cowboys have a need, there may be only one player remaining on the free agency heap who could actually come in and fill the void; and he’s almost 40 years old.
Last March, the club signed Osa Odighizuwa to a four-year, $80 million deal a few days before the start of the new league year. In August, they acquired DT Kenny Clark from the Green Bay Packers and in October they traded with the New York Jets for Quinnen Williams. All three were making over $20 million a season and if they weren’t the best rotation, they certainly were the most expensive.
A year later, amidst a switch to a 3-4 defense some hoped would see a continuation of 5-man fronts that focused on this strength, and the Cowboys are suddenly in the market for a starting caliber DT.
That’s because the Cowboys have traded Odighizuwa, who was seen as the odd-man out in Christian Parker’s new scheme that would ask him to play 4i, to the San Francisco 49ers. The club will now need to find a starter at a position most thought they needed nothing but depth.
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When this article was planned, it was intended to be a Top-5 targets, but four of the five possibilities were all scooped up with new deals on Friday. Da’Shawn Hand, Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave and Sebastian Joseph-Day all agreed to join other clubs. Only 39-year old Calais Campbell remains.
Hopefully fortunately, Campbell is the best of the bunch should Dallas pull the trigger.
From Pro Football Focus: “Retirement seems to be afraid of Campbell, who has yet to show signs of slowing down through 18 NFL seasons. He has logged 30-plus quarterback pressures in all but two of those years, and his 72.2 PFF overall grade in 2025 made it 15 straight years of topping 70.0.”
Campbell has defied the odds, remaining not just serviceable but actually an above-average player year after year after year after year after year after… you get the point.
PFF has him ranked as the No. 31 free agent this cycle, a testament to his continued stellar play.
Campbell has been signing one-year journeyman deals for the last several cycles. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Arizona Cardinals, from 2008 through 2016, then inked with Jacksonville for three years and the Ravens for another three.
Since then he’s spent one year in Atlanta with the Falcons, another in Miami with the Dolphins, then he returned home to Arizona in 2025.
The Cowboys should be knocking down his door to see if he wants to cross the border into Texas for 2026.
