Getty Dan Quinn, Cowboys defensive coordinator, and Dante Fowler
One of the great bonuses of what we see from Dan Quinn’s Cowboys defense week after week is that, while they have two of the best edge pressure men in the league — Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence — Dallas also has a bevy of pass-rushing depth that allows the team to wear down opponents.
No one epitomizes that more than Dante Fowler, who was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft.
Fowler never lived up to his billing when Jacksonville picked him third but has become a solid rotational piece for the Cowboys. He has played 208 snaps and logged a very good 73.7 pass-rushing grade at Pro Football Focus.
Fowler has 3 passes defensed as well as a forced fumble and 2.5 sacks this season, in 12 games. He logged 6.0 sacks in part-time duty in 2022, one of the best of his career.
But that also means that Fowler figures to be a target when he hits free agency this offseason. In fact, PFF predicts the Tennessee Titans will make a move on him.
“Dante Fowler had a career resurgence in 2022 with the Dallas Cowboys, earning a 77.0 pass-rush grade with a 15.8% pressure rate as a rotational pass-rusher,” PFF wrote when looking at roster holes the Titans could fill. “He has followed that up with 26 pressures on just 142 pass-rush snaps in 2023. The Titans could add Fowler as a designated pass-rusher without breaking the bank as they undergo what figures to be a multi-year rebuild.”
Dan Quinn Was With Dante Fowler at Florida
It would not be easy for Dante Fowler to leave Dallas — or, more specifically, to leave Dan Quinn, who has been instrumental in keeping his pro career afloat.
In 2020, back when Quinn was the head coach of the Falcons, Fowler was seen as a pass-rusher on the rise after an 11.5-sack season with the Rams. Atlanta gave him a $45 million contract, over three years. But injuries and inconsistency set in for Fowler, and the Falcons let him go before the third season of that contract.
Quinn, now the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator, has long had a strong bond with Fowler that predates the NFL. Quinn was on Will Muschamp’s staff at Florida when Fowler was playing for the Gators.
“He definitely played a huge factor in it,” Fowler said about signing with the Falcons in 2020, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We just built a relationship at that time. He used to always come and see me, talk to me. Everything was genuine. He talked to me about a lot of things as a man. Just over that one-year span of me being there with him at UF, I went to his house. I met his wife. I had Thanksgiving with them.”
Cowboys Got a Bargain 2 Years in a Row
The Cowboys, in a way, dodged a bullet on Dante Fowler last March when they were able to bring him back on a second one-year deal, worth $1.5 million. That was the second straight year they’ve been able to have him on the roster for a bargain price.
Fowler is 29 and will turn 30 before the start of next season. Thus, he is not going to get anything like a three-year, $45 million contract again. But he is a useful veteran that can help any team in need of veteran depth, whether it is a rebuilding outfit like Tennessee or a contender.
Either way, Fowler is probably due for a raise over the $1.5 million he is making. Given all the contract issues the Cowboys have to sort out, Fowler will be low on their list of priorities, and it is likely they’d simply send him on his way.
He’d surely send Dan Quinn a thank-you card on the way out, though.