The Dallas Cowboys released edge rusher Sam Williams on Sunday as NFL teams cut their rosters to 53 players. The move does not mean the 6-foot-4, 260-pound pass rusher is finished in the league.
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox listed the San Francisco 49ers as a logical landing spot for Williams and placed him at the top of a group of bargain free agents after the final cuts.
“Sam Williams is another former second-round pick who suffered a significant knee injury in 2024,” Knox wrote.
“The Cowboys released the 2022 Mississippi product after completely rebuilding their pass-rushing rotation this offseason. However, Williams flashed early in his career with 8.5 sacks in his first two seasons.”
San Francisco could use the help. The 49ers’ 2025 first-round pick, Mykel Williams, will start the season on injured reserve and is expected to miss at least the first month.
Both of the 49ers’ projected starting edge rushers — Mykel Williams and former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa — are coming off ACL injuries.
Williams had shown flashes with Dallas before the latest roster move. He collected 8.5 sacks across his first two seasons after the Cowboys selected him in the second round, No. 56 overall, in the 2022 NFL draft out of Mississippi.
A season-ending ACL tear and partial MCL tear during 2024 training camp wiped out his entire third year. He returned in 2025 and played in all 17 games, including the first five starts of his career.
Pro Football Focus singled him out as the NFL’s most improved edge rusher in the second half of that season.
“The play of edge defender Sam Williams over the course of the season was one of few bright spots for the Cowboys,” PFF’s Thomas Valentine wrote.
“Williams was ineffective early on with a 39.9 PFF grade — 117th out of 118 edge defenders … From Week 10 onward, Williams earned an 80.6 PFF grade, the 11th-best among edge defenders. Williams recorded just nine pressures in eight games, but also accrued 10 stops and forced a fumble. His 74.7 PFF run-defense grade was also 13th at the position, and no one had a more improved grade in the second half of the season than Williams.”
The Cowboys finished 7-9-1, ranked 30th in team defense and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.
Dallas had signed Williams to a one-year, $3 million contract on March 9, the opening day of free agency. Spotrac now projects a one-year deal around $2.3 million.
The Athletic’s Jon Machota had identified Williams as a possible breakout candidate heading into 2025.
“Williams holds the top spot here because his size and athletic ability are ideal for being an elite edge rusher,” Machota wrote. “The 2022 second-round pick just hasn’t been able to put it all together. His breakout season was supposed to be last year, but a season-ending knee injury in training camp put everything on hold.”
Williams’ route to the NFL included several setbacks. He was expelled from high school after a knife was found on school grounds.
He started at Northeast Mississippi Community College, then transferred to Ole Miss. In July 2020 he was suspended after an arrest on a felony sexual battery charge; the charges were dropped and he was reinstated.
In 2021 he posted 57 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and a fumble return for a touchdown. The sack total set an Ole Miss single-season record.
At the NFL Scouting Combine he measured 6-foot-4 and 261 pounds, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.46 seconds and recorded a 36-inch vertical jump.
Those traits are why some evaluators still see a chance for Williams to contribute, particularly for a 49ers team dealing with injuries on the edge.
