The Dallas Cowboys must make it a priority to add difference-makers on defense this offseason. They turned over the staff when they made Christian Parker the defensive coordinator, who brought in several new coaches, and now they need to get to work on rebuilding this unit into one that is not at the bottom of the league's rankings, as we saw in 2025.
The Cowboys are looking to be a more aggressive, disciplined, and cohesive defense in 2026, which will create a bunch of competition this offseason. Defensive tackle has become a very deep group on this team, but Solomon Thomas will have to fight for his job ahead of the 2026 season.
Solomon Thomas Has to Fight to Keep His Job with Cowboys
Last offseason, the Cowboys signed Thomas to a two-year, $6 million deal, which included $3 million guaranteed. In his first season, Thomas tallied 27 total tackles, three TFLs, two QB hits, but zero sacks. According to Pro Football Focus, he had a 60.9 overall grade (54th among 134 graded defensive linemen), 55.8 pass-rush grade (101st among 134 graded defensive linemen), and a 61.4 run-defense grade (39th among 134 graded defensive linemen). These numbers aren't impressive, displaying that he was a middle-of-the-pack defensive lineman.
Going into the 2026 campaign, Dallas will have Quinnen Williams, Osa Odighizuwa, and Kenny Clark leading the charge at defensive tackle. There will be fewer reps available there, and given how Thomas looked last season, he may not even be around, considering there's a new defensive staff in place.
An underrated factor was that Dallas had Aaron Whitecotton as the defensive line coach last season, who crossed paths with Thomas during their days with the New York Jets. But after one season, Whitecotton was able to get out of his contract in Dallas to join Robert Saleh's staff with the Tennessee Titans.
They now have Marcus Dixon as their defensive line coach. Everyone on the defensive side of the ball will need to bring their best foot forward. Dallas will look to craft the best collection of players, and Thomas may not be on that list in 2026.
The Cowboys have two first-round picks and will likely use those selections on defense. Defensive tackle won't be one of those picks, but when Dallas gets back on the clock in Round 4, anything can be on the table. Free agency is also an outlet to get some low-cost defensive linemen. L.J. Collier, Tim Settle, and Shelby Harris are possible options, and Spotrac projects them to land a deal around $3.7 million per season or less.
If Dallas wanted to cut Thomas, they would save $2.45 million in cap space. There's no telling if that's the path they want to take, but the Stanford product will have to fight to keep his spot on the team. There's a new voice calling the shots on that side of the ball, and there's no telling if the 30-year-old is in the team's plans moving forward.