Osa Odighizuwa will be on the move after all. A trade has been agreed to which will send the veteran defensive tackle from the Cowboys to the 49ers, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports. The deal is now official.
San Francisco will send Dallas a third-round pick, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network adds. As such, the Cowboys will add the No. 92 selection in April’s draft. The team did not own a second- or third-rounder in 2026 prior to this agreement.
A report from Tuesday indicated teams were showing trade interest in Odighizuwa. Dallas already has Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams on the books. The Cowboys also lined up a deal with free agent Otito Ogbonnia, adding further to their depth at the defensive tackle spot. Inquirers from the Bengals did not yield traction, but Dallas clearly remained open to moving forward with a swap in this case. The team will create $4.75MM in cap space while generating $16MM in dead money.
The Cowboys will clear Odighizuwa’s $16.25MM salary in 2026 as a result of this trade. The 49ers, meanwhile, will take on the remainder of his contract; the pact runs through 2028. Odighizuwa inked a four-year, $80MM deal last offseason, but the arrivals of Clark and Williams threatened to cut into his playing time. A heavy workload will await him in the Bay Area, while Dallas will not face the challenge of maintaining three DTs attached to large contracts.
As Schultz confirms, the 49ers were among the runners-up for free agent John Franklin-Myers. The former Bronco wound up agreeing to a lucrative deal with the Titans. San Francisco has pivoted in short order. In addition to wideout Mike Evans, this constitutes certainly a significant addition on the part of general manager John Lynch early in the new league year.
Jordan Elliott lined up an agreement with Tennessee during the early stages of free agency, thinning out the 49ers’ defensive line. Odighizuwa will help serve as a replacement, and he will be counted on to remain a strong contributor against the pass in particular on his new team. The 27-year-old has recorded between 3.0 and 4.5 sacks each season since his rookie campaign. He totaled 64 QB pressures over the past two years, and disruption on that level would be welcomed in San Francisco.
The injury-ravaged 49ers ranked last in the NFL in sacks this past season. A healthy year from Nick Bosa and others would of course go a long way in helping the team bounce back in that regard. Nevertheless, Odighizuwa’s arrival should provide a pass rush boost along the interior for 2026 and beyond.
Whoa! Honestly he fits a straight base 4-3 as an attacking 3tech. Good first step. Sad to see him go.
Football and 49er fan…never heard of this guy
He’s something like the 16th best 3 tech lineman in the league. Not something that will win you a ton of attention, but a solid guy to have around.
We didn’t have many good players on defense. He was one of our better players and leader.
We traded osa?! We just gave him 4 years 80mil. Between trading for Clark and quinnen and going to the 3-4 defense I can see why now
This trade is a bit of a scam. He is worth more than a 3rd rounder. Jerry Jones could’ve made a better trade.
“Jerry Jones could’ve made a better trade.”
Clearly not.
Wish this didn’t happen. He’s a good player but that cap hit and also giving up a premium pick is worrisome. Dallas capitalized on our biggest need which is the DL.
Feels like nice business for the 49ers. It’s a weak free agent class for defensive tackles and they could use a more polished veteran tackle to go with the recent picks. Can see him making sense next to Alfred Collins. And a third isn’t a bad price, especially considering DT salaries have already gone up since he signed his.
For Dallas… Look, I get that their scheme is changing. I get that getting Kenny Clark in the Parsons trade was nice. I get the appeal of trading for Quinine Williams. I get taking the 92nd pick when it feels like Osa’s fit isn’t worth the money anymore.
But man, how many times have we seen Dallas eat money because they changed their mind about a guy after one year? Or had to get rid of a good player because they kept adding big contracts as if they could do it indefinitely? They’re going to eat more dead money from this trade this year than they save against the cap, and they’re going to swap a useful player to an NFC contender and get an end of the third round pick for their trouble.
How many times? Care to share examples?
He doesn’t fit their scheme anymore. Their defense sucked last year. Change is good sometimes. Armchair GMs… not so good.
3rd round picks seems like a lot