After losing Randy Gregory, the Cowboys signed Dante Fowler in free agency and drafted Sam Williams. But no one within the team has forgotten about Dorance Armstrong.
There is a reason the Cowboys re-signed the defensive end to a two-year, $13 million contract that included $6 million guaranteed with a $4.5 million signing bonus in March.
“That’s a dream come true, baby,” Armstrong told Aaron Wilson of profootballnetwork.com. “It felt so good to sign that. I was sweating in that office to sign I was so happy.”
Armstrong finished third on the Cowboys defense in sacks behind Parsons and Gregory, who signed with the Broncos this offseason. The former fourth-round draft selection totaled a career-high five sacks, 22 pressures, 12 quarterback hits, one defensive touchdown, 37 tackles, and three tackles for loss.
“It’s a great feeling to see the work you put execute it and watch it on film,” Armstrong said. “That’s the best part. That’s the exciting part about it.”
Parsons, who earned defensive rookie of the year honors in 2021, has made Armstrong’s job easier.
“No doubt,” Armstrong said. “We’re all in our second year in the defense, and we understand each other a lot better. We see Micah do something to a guy and we say, ‘I want to do the same thing.’ He made it look easy.”
Armstrong played a career-high 507 defensive snaps in 2021 -- 56 percent of all the team’s defensive snaps -- and that number could go up this season with Gregory no longer in town.