The Dallas Cowboys won’t have three big-name interior defensive linemen in 2026 after all.
The Cowboys agreed to trade defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a third-round draft pick, according to multiple reports on Wednesday, March 11.
The deal marks a new chapter for the interior disruptor and both franchises. San Francisco nets yet another established veteran who could help the team catch up in the NFC West arms race. Dallas, meanwhile, gains more flexibility in the short and long term as it reconfigures its defense under new coordinator Christian Parker. The Cowboys on Wednesday also sent defensive tackle Solomon Thomas to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for a late-round pick swap.
But which team came out ahead in the deal between San Francisco and Dallas? Here are our grades:
49ers trade grade: B
An injury-ravaged 49ers defensive line couldn’t generate much heat last season, finishing with a pressure rate (26.7%) that ranked second-worst in the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats. With former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa and first-round defensive end Mykel Williams back from torn anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL) suffered last fall, expect the line’s dynamic to change significantly.
In 2025, Odighizuwa posted his fewest pressures (37) of the past three seasons, but he made more of a difference against the run than he did in previous years. He should be entirely at home in a San Francisco scheme that will allow him to penetrate gaps and be aggressive. And he should work well operating alongside forceful second-year defensive tackle Alfred Collins.
The cost factor shouldn’t be overlooked here, as a third-round pick and picking up Odighizuwa’s contract make for a sizable tab. But defensive tackles who can actually make a dent in the pass game don’t come cheap, and the 49ers now are better positioned to throw the likes of the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks off their game.
Cowboys trade grade: B
It would be easy to ding Jerry Jones for shipping off a former key contributor after the owner said he could envision his team being aggressive in free agency. But this is a nice return and a solid way of recalibrating the defense’s investments.
The Cowboys already had plenty invested up front with trade acquisitions Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark. Dallas’ defense seemed to be at its best last season when it unleashed five-man fronts shortly after securing Williams and Parker, who previously spoke of the need to cater his scheme to the available talent, seemed amenable to getting back to that setup.
‘You can be multiple, the body types that you can provide for the team, you can get different types of interior linemen, outside linebackers,’ Parker said in February. ‘You get in different front structures, four-down, five-down, six-down, three-down, and it just kind of feeds into the demeanor of how you want to play from a personality standpoint with speed on the field.’
But Odighizuwa might not have had a perfect fit within Parker’s scheme, and he seemed like the odd man out up front. Cutting him wasn’t an option given the $32.75 million dead cap hit that the team would have incurred by doing so. Getting a third-round pick back aids Jones’ effort to reimagine the unit, particularly after Dallas coughed up a fourth-round selection to acquire edge rusher Rashan Gary.
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