What are the Dallas Cowboys' plans for defensive end Sam Williams?
The Dallas Cowboys drafted defensive end Sam Williams in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft with the hope of placing him opposite of Micah Parsons to set up a future filled with speed off the edge and a powerful pass rush being the foundation of the defense.
That vision, of course, has since changed, due in part to Parsons' trade ahead of the 2025 season and also because of Williams' slow emergence into the premier building block the Cowboys envisioned him as.
A collection of off-the-field issues and a devastating injury have contributed to that vision blurring, but so too has Williams' recent production. His snap count last season - appearing in just 30 percent of defensive snaps and finishing the year with just one sack - still leaves a lot to be desired. He's averaged less than 30 tackles over his three seasons fully healthy.
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Perhaps he gets some leeway while still working his way back from the torn ACL that held him out of the 2024 season. Or maybe it's the constant changes in defensive coordinators that have left him restarting a new role each year when he should have been asserting himself as a regular starter.
Either way, the Ole Miss product now enters free agency for the first time in his young career, and the likelihood of him returning to the Cowboys is far from certain.
Our Mike Fisher reports that due to Williams "erratic nature'' he's not high on Dallas' priority list.
And ...
ESPN predicts that, of the 22 players with expiring contracts in Dallas, Williams could be one to benefit most from a change of scenery.
However underwhelming his recent tape looks, it's hard to ignore the glimpses of high-caliber production from early in his career, where analyst Aaron Schatz points to how Williams posted 8.5 sacks in 2022-23 without starting any games.
He recorded a career-high in tackles with 37 in 2025 after starting five games, but whenever the Cowboys' pass rush looked the best, it was typically Jadeveon Clowney, Donovan Ezeiruaku or James Houston in on the action.
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones could take the gamble on Williams' second full season recovered from the knee injury yielding his best physical shape. It'd be a "prove-it" deal similar to running back Javonte Williams' free-agency acquisition a year ago.
Javonte burst onto the scene with a career-high 1,201 yards and it was enough to earn him a long-term contract this offseason.
That risk, however, will require Williams to fill another spot on a defense that needs wholesale changes under new coordinator Christian Parker.
Williams, 27, is given a market value projection of $2.3 million for a one-year deal on Spotrac. If the Cowboys still have a vision for the explosive edge rusher, he can bring some type of continuity that the D-line could benefit from.
If not, there will be a fresh start coming for a project piece that never panned out.