Despite the impressive Week 7 win over the Commanders, the Dallas Cowboys' defense is still nowhere near where it needs to be for the team to be a serious playoff threat. Matt Eberlus' unit still ranks as the worst defense in the league, and no matter how dynamic the offense looks, that will be impossible to overcome throughout the season.
A big contributing factor in the defensive struggles has been disappointing individual performances from a few key starters. Perhaps the most notable of them all is defensive end Sam Williams.
Sam Williams' Time in Dallas May Be Coming to an End
Upon his return from missing the entire 2024 season with injury, the fourth-year-player is back to playing an even larger role than he was before the injury. He has lined up in 50% of the Cowboys' defensive snaps, but hasn't made an impact. Per Pro Football Focus, he ranks as the worst edge defender in the NFL among 110 eligible players in the position with a 40.8 defensive grade.
Even though the 26-year-old has been struggling all season, he hit a new low against the Commanders, receiving his lowest grade (37.2) of the 2025 campaign. In his 28 defensive snaps, he accumulated zero stats in the box score, almost an impressive feat of invisibility, and generated zero pressures in his pass rush snaps, per Tom Downey on X. Because he was doing nothing on the field, a few Cowboys accounts on social media began to wonder whether Williams was benched.
Williams is in the final year of his contract. The Cowboys have to decide what his future in Dallas will be. On the one hand, pass rushers are hard to find, and Williams is coming off a serious ACL and MCL tear. He could perhaps look better with time. On the other hand, he has been so bad that it is hard to justify putting him out there. And if you don't trust him enough to play a significant number of defensive snaps, then you should probably part ways with him in the offseason rather than willingly give him more money.
A third option would be to move on from him at the trade deadline in hopes of recouping some value. Williams may still have enough of a reputation around the league that, even with his injury history and struggles this season, there may be teams desperate for more pass rush depth that would be willing to give up draft capital to acquire him. Even though the Cowboys are in no position to lose defensive depth themselves, it's hard to imagine that giving Williams' snaps to a combination of James Houston, Jadeveon Clowney, Marshawn Kneeland, and Donovan Ezeiruaku instead would hurt the team.