In terms of production vs. investment, edge rusher James Houston was 1 of the few defensive players on the Dallas Cowboys‘ roster in 2025 who gave them anything substantial.
Houston, playing on a 2-year, $2.75 million contract signed in July 2025, played in all 17 games for the Cowboys with zero starts and finished with 5.5 sacks. That was probably a good indication of what was wrong with the defense in the 1st place, being someone who played so well was never even allowed to start.
Now, headed into 2026, the Cowboys are doing a complete rehaul of their defense and, according to Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton, Houston is the 1 player Dallas should trade before the start of the offseason to capitalize on what might be a fleeting window of value for the former 6th round pick.
The biggest — and maybe only — knock on Houston is his size. At just 6-foot-1 and 248 pounds, he’s about 3-4 inches shorter and 20-30 pounds lighter than what’s considered to be the prototypical NFL edge rusher.
“As a designated pass-rusher, James Houston recorded 5.5 sacks and 19 pressures while on the field for 28 percent of the defensive snaps last season,” Moton wrote. “The Cowboys’ roster additions could bury Houston on the depth chart. Rather than play the fifth-year pro sparingly, Dallas can trade him to an edge-rusher-needy team for an early Day 3 pick.”
James Houston’s Play Turned Heads in 2025
Headed into Week 6 of the 2025 regular season, Houston’s play was singled out as being that of a “Breakout Star” for the Cowboys with 3.5 sacks — the only player with multiple sacks through the 1st 5 games.
“By no means has the 26-year-old journeyman replaced Micah Parsons, but he’s got 3.5 sacks in his last four games, and his impact has gone beyond that on the edge in Dallas,” Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon wrote in October 2025.
The Detroit Lions picked Houston in the 6th round (No. 217 overall) of the 2022 NFL draft out of Jackson State, where he played for Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.
Houston earned the nickname “The Problem” in college and in 2021 — his lone season playing for Sanders — had 70 tackles, 24.5 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks, 7 forced fumbles, and one interception on the way to earning FCS All-American, All-SWAC, and SWAC Newcomer of the Year honors.
Houston had 8.0 sacks for the Lions as a rookie in 2022, and did it in just 7 games.
He only managed 1.0 sack in 11 games over the next 2 seasons and spent 2024 split between the Lions and the Cleveland Browns.
Cowboys Have Scrambled Since Micah Parsons Trade
Save for the few bright spots of Houston and Donovan Ezeiruaku over the last year, the Cowboys have fallen behind at edge rusher since trading perennial All-Pro Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers before the 2025 season.
This offseason, they’ve tried to fix that. Dallas traded with the Packers for former 1st-round pick Rashan Gary and also drafted UCF edge rusher Malachi Lawrence with the No. 23 overall pick in the 1st round. Combine that with Ezeiruaku and Sam Williams, who just signed a 1-year contract, and the writing might be on the wall for Houston’s exit.
Cowboys Urged to Trade Talented but Undersized Edge Rusher