The Dallas Cowboys signed Quinnen Williams to a three-year, $105.9 million contract. This includes $101 million total guaranteed and $63.35 million fully guaranteed at signing. The real news here is that one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL is getting paid, but it's Jerry Jones revealing his true intention all along: to stop the run.
Jones made it obvious, like Nico Harrison. "Defense wins championships." Yes, even in a Cowboys article, Harrison deserves a mention every once in a while, but only because of how the Micah Parsons trade went down. The Cowboys had just lost one of the best pass rushers, and it became Jones' mantra to stop the run.
The Cowboys were clearly in need of help in all phases of the defense, but he prioritized the run defense. It makes Jones' end goal clear as day, and he finally got what he wanted all along.
Jerry Jones followed through with his word on stopping the run all along since trading Micah Parsons
As an individual move, the Kenny Clark trade is still looking good, but Jones was able to pair him with perhaps the best defensive tackle in the game. In the press conference after Parsons was traded, Jones pointed to stopping the run. Well, they didn't end up stopping much last season, but a full season of Clark and Williams together is going to be interesting to see.
The Parsons trade was more of a project to see what the Cowboys could do long-term. It turns out it may not be as long-term as initially anticipated, with Williams now staying a Cowboy.
Williams is finally ready to play on a team that's ready to compete for real hardware. For New York Jets fans, he was one of the few players they looked forward to watching, and he was traded to the Cowboys at the last-minute to fight for the top NFC East spot. The Cowboys came up short, but it was a reminder that his 21 total tackles, 1.5 sacks and one interception in half the season were just half of what he can do.
In terms of stopping the pass, Jones thinks he's done the work to replace Parsons. OK, maybe not "replace," but at least draw up a rotation you can depend on. Donovan Ezeiruaku and Rashan Gary make up the core that we will likely see as pass rushers. Malachi Lawrence isn't playing in training camp with the ones, but there's been optimism that he can be a valuable rotational piece.
All in all, this is a giant step in what Jones wanted all along. He wanted to stop the run, and boy, he's getting it.
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