Cowboys Beef-Up D-Line with Phillips and Lawson Signings

The two pressing areas of concern around the Dallas Cowboys remain unsolved with the uncertain futures surrounding Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. But this week, the defending NFC East champs have taken the efforts to sure up another spot on the roster.

Late into Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, the Cowboys shifted their focus to the defensive line, acquiring Jordan Phillips from the Giants and signing free agent Carl Lawson. After months of speculation about the state of that front, "America's Team" finally has its response.

Before those moves, the defensive front depth chart looked really thin. Now, there's some insurance for the Cowboys to fall back on.

Where Phillips and Lawson should truly shine is in the pass rush. Phillips has a history that says he excels on the inside in terms of occupying blockers. Lawson has a history that says when healthy, can generate real numbers from the outside.

That might be exactly what the Cowboys need. In the pass rush, surely they will have Micah Parsons align across the formation and attack an offense from different angles. ... and now maybe Micah will be even more free to roam.

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This, by the way, changes nothing about the burden on Mazi Smith, the 2023 first-rounder who must quickly grow into that run-plugging role this season.

How these two are incorporated into the Dallas defensive unit in practice in the weeks leading up to the regular season will provide an intriguing storyline.

Perhaps coordinator Mike Zimmer needed to observe and tinker with his defense before Dallas pulled the trigger on the Lawson signing and the Phillips trade. But despite a few setbacks, it appears he has orchestrated this group on paper to his liking.