Cowboys trade DT Odighizuwa to 49ers for pick

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- At last month's NFL combine, San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch left no doubt that bolstering the pass rush, particularly on the defensive line, was his team's top offseason priority.

On Wednesday, Lynch put action behind those words as the Niners acquired Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick (No. 92 overall).

Odighizuwa should give the Niners the pass rushing pop they desperately lacked in 2025. San Francisco finished last in the NFL in sacks (20), 31st in pressures and 29th in pass rush win rate (29.2%).

Those numbers were even more dismal on the interior as they got just 4.5 sacks from players lined up at defensive tackle. Starters Kalia Davis and Jordan Elliott combined for 0.5 sacks despite combining for 516 pass rush snaps. Elliott signed with the Tennessee Titans in free agency and the Niners declined to tender an offer to Davis, a restricted free agent on Wednesday afternoon. The 49ers pushed hard for free agent defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers before he landed with the Titans, according to sources. They pivoted quickly to pursuing Odighizuwa.

In 2025, Odighizuwa had just 3.5 sacks but, among defensive tackles, he ranked first in quarterback hits (23), fifth in pass rush win rate (10%) and 20th in pressure rate (5.7%). Over the past five NFL seasons, Odighizuwa ranks fourth in quarterback hits (81) and 10th in pass rush win rate (11.5%) among defensive tackles.

Last March, the Cowboys signed Odighizuwa to a four-year, $80 million deal that included $39 million fully guaranteed at the time of signing and $52 million guaranteed overall. Dallas will absorb $16 million in dead money while opening $4.75 million in salary cap space.

For the Niners, Odighizuwa is under contract through 2028 with base salaries of $16.25 million (fully guaranteed) in 2026 and $20 million in each of the following two seasons. He is expected to step into a significant role on San Francisco's defensive line, where he joins second-year tackles Alfred Collins and C.J. West on the interior.

At last year's trade deadline, the Cowboys acquired Pro Bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. While owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the Cowboys could keep Williams, Clark and Odighizuwa, it would have been top-heavy from a salary-cap perspective as well as from a playing time perspective.

Odighizuwa started in his rookie season and developed into a reliable interior defender. For his career, he has stated 76 of 84 career games and recorded 212 tackles, 17 sacks, 20 tackles for loss and 165 pressures. In 2025, he was named one of the defensive captains by his teammates. He played in 46.6% of the snaps after playing in 77.9% of the snaps in 2024.

Odighizuwa had minor surgery to his elbow earlier this offseason but is expected to be ready for the offseason program. But his fit in the scheme of new coordinator Christian Parker came under question.

According to sources, his name was tied to a potential trade to the Las Vegas Raiders for Maxx Crosby. The Cowboys received interest from a few teams, but the Niners were the most ardent pursuers of Odighizuwa.

There were a few signs that the team was willing to listen to offers as free agency approached. The Cowboys did not look to restructure his contract, like they had for quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and guard Tyler Smith, to create space to get under the salary cap.

On Tuesday, the Cowboys restructured the contract of defensive tackle Kenny Clark, acquired last year for Micah Parsons in the deal with the Green Bay Packers, and they agreed to a deal with Los Angeles Chargers nose tackle Otito Ogbonnia.

Also on Wednesday, Dallas traded defensive tackle Solomon Thomas to Tennessee in a seventh-round pick swap. The Cowboys received pick No. 218 while sending Thomas and pick No. 225 to Tennessee. With the Titans, Thomas will reunite with coach Robert Saleh, who was the 49ers' defensive coordinator when they selected Thomas with the No. 3 pick in the 2017 NFL draft.

In acquiring the third-round pick, the Cowboys now have three picks inside the top 100. They own pick Nos. 12 and 20, which is from the Packers, and now No. 92 overall from the Niners. The Cowboys were without their third-round pick because of last year's trade for wide receiver George Pickens from the Pittsburgh Steelers.