Quinnen Williams is heading into 2026 with the kind of spotlight that comes with being one of the Dallas Cowboys’ biggest defensive bets.
Dallas landed the former First-Team All-Pro defensive tackle in a midseason trade with the New York Jets in 2025, sending back defensive tackle Mazi Smith, a 2027 first-round pick and a 2026 second-round pick. The move didn’t carry the Cowboys into the playoffs, but it did give them a major piece for a defense that had been sitting near the bottom of the league. Williams is now one of the central figures in the team’s effort to turn that unit around.
He’ll also arrive at training camp later this month with something he didn’t have when he first got to Dallas: a full offseason in the system. That matters. Williams played seven games for the Cowboys after arriving from New York, and those reps are now paired with a complete summer in Dallas as expectations climb.
The Cowboys had been tied to Williams for a while. He was viewed as a possible target dating back to last offseason, when the Micah Parsons deal went down, but Dallas finally got the trade done at the 2025 deadline.
Across the full 2025 season, Williams appeared in 15 games and started all of them, splitting time between the Jets and Cowboys. He still picked up his fourth career Pro Bowl selection, but the year didn’t quite match the high-end standard he’s built over time.
His 2025 totals looked like this:
- 15 appearances (15 starts)
- 53 total tackles (26 solo)
- 2.5 sacks
- 12 quarterback hits
- three forced fumbles
- one pass breakup
- one interception
With Dallas adding more talent across the defense, Williams should have a better supporting cast around him in 2026. And while defensive tackle production can be tricky to judge by the box score alone, the expectation is that his sack total should rise.
Here’s the projected line for Williams in 2026:
- 16 appearances (16 starts, one missed game)
- 65 total tackles (31 solo)
- 6.5 sacks
- 21 quarterback hits
- two forced fumbles
- one fumble recovery
- four pass breakups
If he gets anywhere near that kind of production, another Pro Bowl trip should be in play, and Dallas will have a much better shot at getting back to the postseason. Williams is already one of the most important players on the roster. In 2026, the Cowboys need him to be even more than that.
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