<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Quinnen Williams (92) talks with linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, defensive lineman Rashan Gary (7) and linebacker Dee Winters (53) during a training camp practice on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Oxnard, Calif.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
OXNARD, Calif. \u2014 The value of a defensive tackle has evolved in the NFL.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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In the last two seasons, four defensive tackles were ranked among the league’s top 50 players in the NFL\u2019s annual Top 100<\/a> list, voted on by the players. \u00a0<\/p>\n Last year, Cowboys defense tackle Quinnen Williams was ranked No. 87. The year before that, No. 37. Where he ranks in the 2026 version, which isn\u2019t fully released, is unknown. But it\u2019s clear Williams, along with fellow defensive tackle Kenny Clark, is part of a talented group of interior defensive linemen taking over the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n And just this week, the Eagles signed Jalen Carter<\/a>, another talented defensive tackle, to a four-year, $152 million extension. Carter is one of four defensive tackles with contracts over $100 million. Three of the four players are under 30.\u00a0<\/p>\n Williams, 28, has two years remaining on a four-year contract extension that\u2019s worth $96 million. He signed that deal with the New York Jets, and now after spending half a season with the Cowboys, he expects to cash in again.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stephen Jones, the Cowboys co-owner, said this week<\/a> the franchise wants to extend Williams.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt has evolved tremendously,\u201d Williams said of the defensive tackle position. \u201cI was joking with Kenny Clark about how far the defensive tackle market has come since he was coming in [2016] when [the average salary] was sitting like with $17 million a year was the highest paid and that was like Fletcher Cox and Aaron Donald and those guys. Now it\u2019s $38 million.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Cowboys haven\u2019t just discovered the value of the defensive tackle. Bob Lilly and Randy White are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after dominating the defensive tackle position. Lilly was the Cowboys\u2019 first draft pick in 1961.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n During the 1990s Super Bowl run, defensive tackles Russell Maryland, Leon\u00a0Lett, Chad Hennings and Tony Casillas were part of a dominant defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n In recent years, the best Cowboys defensive tackles were Jay\u00a0Ratliff and Osa Odighizuwa.\u00a0<\/p>\n There were high expectations for David Irving, but he fizzled out. Same for first-round pick Mazi Smith, who was traded to the Jets as part of the Williams acquisition.<\/p>\n Kansas City, Seattle, Philadelphia, New England, Tennessee, Baltimore, Carolina and Detroit have some of the best defensive tackles in a league desperate in its pursuit of interior pressure on quarterbacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe were just laughing and joking about that, man,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt\u2019s just phenomenal to see the impact that my position, defensive tackle, is making. You always see the teams that\u2019s in the Super Bowl have phenomenal D-tackles with Seattle and the Eagles and Kansas City and those guys have been very effective and things like that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Eagles have two of the better defensive tackles in the game in Jordan Davis and Carter. That duo has prompted other NFC East teams to make sure the interior of their offensive line is strong. The Cowboys have probably the best left guard in the business, Tyler Smith, and believe right guard Tyler Booker is also on the rise to combat Davis and Carter.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the pass rush off the edge is an uncertainty for the 2026 season. \u00a0<\/p>\n With that, the Cowboys are confident Otito Ogbonnia, Williams and Clark will become a dominant force in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Williams is the prize of this group. \u00a0<\/p>\n Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Quinnen Williams signs autographs after a training camp practice on Thursday, July 30, 2026, in Oxnard, Calif.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n In seven NFL seasons, Williams has been named to four Pro Bowls and an All-Pro team. Williams, the 2019 third overall pick, has compiled double-digit hits on the quarterback in six consecutive seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s an incredible teammate,\u201d coach Brian Schottenheimer said. \u201cHe\u2019s one of the most, I would say, humble superstars I\u2019ve ever been around. He truly is. I think being in New York and unfortunately not being a part of playoff teams, he\u2019s to the point in his career where it\u2019s not about money, it\u2019s not about sacks, it\u2019s about wins. And I love that because when you combine that with certain guys like Dak Prescott<\/a> and other players, that\u2019s what they want to lead the league in is wins. And he\u2019s just an awesome family man. Great teammate, but the player speaks for itself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Williams has put those seven seasons with the Jets behind him. \u00a0<\/p>\n He still speaks positively about coach Aaron Glenn and his plans for that franchise. Yet, playing with the Cowboys has given him a fresh look at the way new defensive coordinator Christan Parker wants to use him. It\u2019s in a similar fashion to how the Eagles play Carter and Davis.\u00a0<\/p>\n Getting to the postseason is at the front of Williams\u2019 mind. If he continues playing at an elite level, well, his financial numbers will rise, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely never been to the playoffs, man,\u201d Williams said. \u201cAs a competitor, man, I want to win it all. I compete in this sport. I\u2019m an ultimate competitor. I want to win every single game if I can. I was bred to win from [former Alabama coach Nick] Saban and do the things at \u2018Bama, and I want to bring that same mentality especially to this defense because our offense has that mentality.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Quinnen Williams (92) talks with linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, defensive lineman Rashan Gary (7) and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":973474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,358,325232,390716,290737,382222,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-973473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-america","tag-dallas","tag-texas","tag-tp-dallas-cowboys","tag-tp-quinnen-williams","tag-tp-brian-schottenheimer","tag-tp-training-camp","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117020253899509033","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/973473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=973473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/973473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/973474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=973473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=973473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=973473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n