This year’s coordinator carousel gave Dorance Armstrong multiple logical landing spots outside of Dallas. One of them will indeed produce a deal. Armstrong will reunite with his former defensive coordinator in Washington.
The Commanders are signing the longtime Cowboys pass rusher, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler reports. Dan Quinn coached Armstrong for three seasons as Dallas’ DC. While the Seahawks hired former Cowboys D-line coach Aden Durde as their DC, Armstrong has a deal to stay in the NFC East.
The Commanders are giving Armstrong a three-year deal that maxes out at $45MM, Fowler adds. For base value, Washington will give Armstrong a three-year, $33MM pact, per the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala.
Re-signed as a Randy Gregory fallback option in 2022, Armstrong fared better than the former Dallas starter since. The Cowboys gave Armstrong a two-year, $12MM deal after Gregory talks fell through at the 11th hour. The team rostering Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence helped Armstrong along, and the Cowboys will have to replace one of their auxiliary pass-rushing pieces as a result of that production.
Armstrong, 26, totaled 8.5 sacks in 2022 and 7.5 last season. He outproduced Lawrence in this span from a sack perspective, and Quinn will bring him aboard as the Commanders regroup following their Montez Sweat and Chase Young trades. The Commanders will still have another DE spot to fill alongside Armstrong, but the six-year veteran will represent a key part of Quinn and Joe Whitt‘s first Washington defense.
A fourth-round pick out of Kansas, Armstrong had all of 2.5 sacks through three seasons and did not surpass 20 pressures in either of the past two. Even following Gregory’s exit, the Cowboys used Armstrong as a rotational rusher on their deep defensive line. More will be expected of Armstrong, who is surely ticketed to become a Commanders starter. Quinn having seen Armstrong for three seasons in Dallas will better position him for success in the nation’s capital. The Cowboys still have Sam Williams under contract, though they will need some help on the edge with Dante Fowler having played out his second Dallas deal.