Cowboys acquired DT Quinnen Williams from the Jets for DT Mazi Smith, a 2026 second-round pick and a 2027 first-round pick.

04 November 2025

Williams is notably not Micah Parsons, but if for some reason you can’t have Parsons, he’s probably on the short list of defensive line stars in the league. He’s a star run defender — something we seem to recall the Cowboys needing — by virtue of splash plays. Williams has only one sack this year, but the Jets have not held many leads and Williams does have 23.5 sacks in his past seasons. The Jets star defender has 1.5 years remaining on a four-year, $96 million extension signed in 2023. So the Cowboys will make sure to have someone with an expiring contract distraction on the roster in 2026, as nature abhors a vacuum. The Jets are now a conceptual football team, the closest thing we’ve seen to one since the Sashi Brown Browns anyway. So from that standpoint, Mazi Smith, a theoretical defensive tackle, is a great addition.