On paper, the six-season-long chapter between Osa Odighizuwa and the Dallas Cowboys has ended, but a ‘2.0 version’ may be in the making with him joining the San Francisco 49ers. And if words are anything to go by, the outcome may not look too promising for Jerry Jones’ Cowboys.

“Speaking of the rivalry, bro, it’s the game that you got a picture on a dartboard, and you’re throwing the knife at the picture,” the defensive tackle told Richard Sherman on the latter’s podcast. “And now I just take down the picture, and I put up the other picture, and I’m on the other side of it, but the energy is exactly the same.”

These two NFC franchises have clashed 41 times since 1960, and as of now, the San Francisco 49ers lead the series 21–19–1. On November 15, 2026, that rivalry will be on full display again. Richard Sherman perfectly captured the friction that Osa Odighizuwa is tapping into.

“The San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys used to be an old rivalry that was very intense,” Sherman remarked. “And it has become that again, on both sides. I think there was some legit frustration, some legit anger, and now you’re on the other side of that. And it’s gonna be fireworks.”

The podcaster’s analysis garnered a firm “for sure” from the new 49er. This offseason defection gives San Francisco a massive tactical advantage in the trenches. The 27-year-old knows the intimate details, specific offensive line weaknesses, and snap counts of the Dallas offense. Jerry Jones essentially let a premier interior defender walk right into the locker room of his biggest NFC hurdle. 

In the 2025 season, Odighizuwa had 3.5 sacks with the Cowboys. But in the past two years, he ranked third among all defensive tackles with 112 QB pressures, only behind Zach Allen and Chris Jones. His 52 pressures in 2025 ranked sixth among all defensive tackles in the National Football League. His pass rush win rate was also the fifth-highest at 10.0% that season.

It’s a resume that made even ESPN’s Seth Walder believe that Jones made a mistake by trading him. 

“Odighizuwa is three years younger than Clark and outperformed him in both win rates and run stop rate last season,” Walder wrote. “Last season, Odighizuwa’s pass rush win rate at defensive tackle ranked well ahead of Clark’s (62nd percentile). His pressure rate was higher, too, and Clark was well below average at the run stop rate. And Clark costs almost $5 million more this year.” 

So, what pushed the Cowboys to make such an unhappy deal? Let’s hear it from Jones himself. 

Jerry Jones weighs in on why he had to trade Osa Odighizuwa

In March 2025, the Dallas Cowboys signed Osa Odighizuwa to a four-year, $80 million deal with $39 million guaranteed upfront. However, dead cap space became a major hurdle. As a result, owner Jerry Jones chose to trade him to free up cap space.

“We needed to spread it around a little bit on what we have available to us with (the salary cap),” Jones confessed. “More importantly, we can put it in some places that probably get more mileage out of what it’s done. That’s not taking anything away from him individually, but we’ve got two outstanding football players (Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark), we have other backup players, plus we don’t want to rule out drafting a player. So, we thought that was the best move.”  

But the trade left the Cowboys with a $16 million dead cap charge for a season that doesn’t even have the player on the active roster. And all they were trying to do was clear out $4.75 million of space. 

Meanwhile, San Francisco armed itself with the perfect weapon to go up against Dak Prescott. With Odighizuwa’s experience with the Cowboys, the 49ers will have a major advantage against their age-old rivals.