It’s not always glamorous, but building a real championship football team still starts the same way it always has: with difference-makers along the line of scrimmage.
Specifically — at defensive tackle.
Finding true game-wreckers at that position is one of the rarest things in the sport. You’re asking for size, strength, athleticism, motor, football IQ, toughness, and technical discipline — all packed into a body type that’s constantly outnumbered and doesn’t know where the play is going.
It’s why you need four or five defensive tackles rotating every Sunday just to survive — while offensive linemen stay on the field the whole game unless they’re hurt.
Anchoring against the will of two fully-grown, technical 300+ pound men — over and over again — is one of the hardest tasks in football. And when you find someone who can not only survive but dominate in that chaos? You don’t just hold the line. You change the math.
It’s why you need four or five defensive tackles rotating every Sunday just to survive — while offensive linemen stay on the field the whole game unless they’re hurt.
Anchoring against the will of two fully-grown, technical 300+ pound men — over and over again — is one of the hardest tasks in football. And when you find someone who can not only survive but dominate in that chaos? You don’t just hold the line. You change the math.
There are obviously other factors to this, but the point remains.
If you have one guy who can command multiple blockers and hold ground, you control A-gap and win numbers advantages everywhere else. If you have one guy who can rush the quarterback from the middle, it’s a different ballgame. Pressure off the edge can be helped. Chipped. Stepped up against. Pressure up the middle can’t.
And guess what? Teams are realizing this in a big way.
From 2014 to 2023, interior defensive line salaries grew 104% — the largest increase of any defensive position. Meanwhile, corners — widely considered the toughest defensive position by athletic demands — saw the least salary growth. Because corners are reactionary. They’re dependent on what the offense does and quite honestly at the mercy of the NFL rulebook.
Defensive tackles are independent variables. They can wreck plays without relying on anything but themselves.
Last offseason? Per Spotrac, DE and DT led all defensive positions (offense and defense) in total money spent — $454 million on edge defenders, $337 million on interior defensive linemen.
The trenches are still big business. And it’s why the Cowboys should not — and probably will not — be done looking at ways to beef up the interior.
We've seen some sites try to make connections to big-money defensive tackles, and we won't bother with that exercise because we know Dallas at this time isn't bothering.
But eventually? We say of such an addition ...
It’s not a luxury. It’s a necessity.
