FRISCO, Texas -- When Myles Garrett was traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Los Angeles Rams last week, the move was seen as a season changer for the Rams.
Garrett set an NFL record in 2025 with 23 sacks, and now he was going to a team that made it to the NFC Championship Game. The rich were getting richer and making the Dallas Cowboys’ path to a possible Super Bowl that much more difficult.
Garrett’s 23 sacks last season were more than the Cowboys’ 2026 projected top six edge rushers totaled in 2025. Offseason acquisition Rashan Gary had 7.5 sacks for the Green Bay Packers, but none in his final nine games. Donovan Ezeiruaku, Dallas’ 2025 second-round pick, had two in his rookie season. James Houston joined the roster days before training camp last summer and had 5.5 sacks. Sam Williams and Marist Liufau had one sack apiece. And at this time a year ago, No. 23 draft pick Malachi Lawrence was not seen as a first-rounder as a senior at Central Florida.
The Cowboys have been taking a piecemeal approach to their pass rush, despite their Super Bowl teams (XXVII, XXVIII, XXX) having top-tier individual pass rushers, such as Hall of Famer Charles Haley, Jethro Pugh and Harvey Martin. DeMarcus Ware won his Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos but built his Hall of Fame career while becoming Dallas’ all-time sack leader. And then there is Micah Parsons, who recorded at least 12 sacks in each of his first four seasons before being dealt to the Packers the week before last season started.
According to sources, the Cowboys were not involved in trade discussions for Garrett, but they were well known to be involved in talks with the Las Vegas Raiders for Maxx Crosby before his trade to the Baltimore Ravens that was called off due to a failed physical.
To date, the Cowboys have not expressed an interest in bringing back last year’s sack leader, Jadeveon Clowney, who had 8.5 and remains available.
“Some of the best pass-rushing teams I know we’ve faced don’t have necessarily one guy,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “It’s easier to shut one guy down. One elite guy, you can pay a lot of attention to.”
The Seattle Seahawks were led by a trio of players who had seven sacks on their way to winning the Super Bowl. The New England Patriots, whom Seattle beat, were led by Harold Landry III’s 8.5 sacks.
Dallas’ new defensive coordinator, Christian Parker, spent the past two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. They were led in sacks last year by Jalyx Hunt, who had 6.5, but had two others with at least 4.5 sacks and five more with at least three. In 2024, Josh Sweat had a team-high eight for the Eagles but four others had at least 4.5 sacks.
In Parker’s three seasons as an assistant coach with the Broncos, they did not have a defender record more than 8.5 sacks, but they had four players with at least 4.5 sacks each season.
“I really do think it’s more of the unit,” Schottenheimer said. “And that’s what we’re excited about with the depth that we feel that we have.”
Gary, whom Schottenheimer called a “grown-ass man,” is the most accomplished edge rusher the Cowboys have. He did not have a double-digit sack season in his first seven seasons, but he had at least six sacks in five of those seasons, including 9.5 in 2021.
“The film speaks for itself, but, man, I’m a dog, man,” Gary said. “I play with a lot of effort, cause a lot of pressure. I don’t think nobody likes to go against me, so I’m just bringing that same energy and just the same mentality.”
Ezeiruaku led college football with 16.5 sacks in his final season at Boston College. While he had only two sacks as a rookie, he had 43 pressures. His 28% pass rush win rate was the best among rookie edge rushers.
And he played a good portion of last season with a hip injury that required surgery and will keep him out of team drills until the start of training camp.
“I feel like I’m more explosive, especially after the surgery and with all the work that I’ve been doing,” Ezeiruaku said.
With Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams at defensive tackle, Ezeiruaku believes that will create pass-rush advantages for the edge rushers. If opponents don’t give enough attention to their interior players, then Clark and Williams can be disruptive in the quarterback’s face.
“Just to be better at pushing the pocket, pass rushing, getting the quarterback on the ground, that’s the thing I can take a better step this year at doing,” Williams said.
The Cowboys also believe they have help on the sideline. They added B.T. Jordan as a pass-rush consultant after he spent the past two years with the Broncos when they led the league in sacks both seasons.
Nik Bonitto had 13.5 sacks in 2024 and 14 last season. Six other defensive linemen had at least four sacks last season, while six had at least five in 2024.
“Just extreme details,” said Clark, who has worked with Jordan in previous offseasons. “Throughout the season you work so much with your pass rush. I feel like a lot of guys come in early on and they’re hot on the pass rush, [but] you kind of lose that the more you go through the season with walk-throughs. Stuff just slows down because you’re [trying to save] your body. I think B.T.’s going to do a great job of keeping us sharp throughout the whole season.”
Schottenheimer knows not to get carried away with what he has seen in the organized team activities. Players are not in pads. The work against offensive linemen is limited to a degree. Quarterbacks are protected even more in practice.
“It’s not real football,” he said. “It will never be real football, so I’m going to hold my praise, but I’m very pleased with the guys that we’ve added. I’m pleased with the group.”
