The edge rusher is returning to Dallas, where he played in 2022 and 2023
When we asked fans yesterday what the Green Bay Packers’ biggest remaining need on the roster was, the leader in the clubhouse was defensive end — which earned 42 percent of the overall vote. Friday both confirmed that the Packers are still looking for an answer there and will need to keep searching.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Packers were “monitoring” pass-rusher Dante Fowler Jr.’s market before the former third-overall pick re-signed with the Dallas Cowboys, who he played with in 2022 and 2023. Flower spent 2024 with the Washington Commanders, whose head coach Dan Quinn was previously Flower’s defensive coordinator in Dallas.
So Green Bay is still in the defensive end market, despite being a projected $27 million over the salary cap in 2026, but weren’t willing to pay the one-year, $8 million asking price that Fowler signed for, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Who is left on the market? Not many players. The only free-agent edge defenders left who have both a better pressure rate and a higher snap count than Lukas Van Ness over the past couple of seasons are Za’Darius Smith, Von Miller and Preston Smith. Both of the Smiths were let go by the Packers, so that bridge is probably burned. Miller, meanwhile, hasn’t started a game in two seasons and is a 35-year-old (36 at the end of the month) designated pass-rusher.