The Micah Parsons trade was their waving of the white flag for the defensive roster the Dallas Cowboys had built. If one wanted to be petty, they could say the hiring of Matt Eberflus back in January of 2025 was the whittling of the wood to sew that flag onto. What Dallas got back in the trade, Kenny Clark and two first-round picks, were the foundation of the rebuild. The soon-to-be alluring lobby on the need-it-to-be extravagant building was Quinnen Williams, the star New York Jets defensive tackle.
Dallas gave up one of those first-round Parsons' picks, and their own 2026 second rounder, to get Williams. He played in seven of the eight games he was eligible for to close the season, and then was extended to an additional three years and $105.9
million in the offseason. With the trading of DT Jeffrey Simmons from the Tennessee Titans to the Chicago Bears this week, it's a great time to look back at the two phases of the acquisition and ask aloud, did the Cowboys overpay for Williams?
There are several pieces to be considered in such a comparison; players' production, trade compensation and salary are all intertwined.
Trade Compensation Analysis
The trade for Simmons was the first time in NFL history that a defensive tackle was traded for at least two first rounders, the Bears from 2027 and 2028, and there was an additional 2027 fourth rounder included as well. Assuming the Bears as a playoff team for the next two years, we'll slot them at pick No. 26 in each round to estimate the value of the picks moved.
Using the Fitzgerald-Speilberg draft value chart that's based on the average APY of post-rookie contracts per slot, here's the point value of the three picks.
- 2027 1st (No. 26): 1349 pts
- 2028 1st (No. 26): 1349 pts
- 2027 4th (No. 154): 447 pts
- Total draft compensation paid by Bears: 3145 pts
For the Cowboys side of things, one of the picks has obviously already been realized. Dallas gave up the No. 44 pick in 2026, along with a first rounder in 2027 and Mazi Smith. Smith may have garnered a team's seventh-round pick on his own. Maybe.
As far as the 2027 first rounder, Dallas is sending the better of theirs and the pick that will be based on the Packers' finish. Right now that's theNo. 12 pick based on the Cowboys' 3-4 record.
- 2026 2nd (No. 44): 1082 pts
- Smith's estimated value (No. 240): 223 pts
- 2027 1st (No. 12): 1741 pts
- Total draft compensation paid by Cowboys: 3046 pts
Salary Analysis
- Cowboys will pay $161.4 million for 93 games of Williams
- Bears will pay $130 million for 78 games of Simmons
This one is fairly straight forward on the surface, as the two players signed almost identical contracts this offseason.
On June 19, Simmons signed a three-year extension worth $105.8 million. It stacked on top of the remaining two years of his existing deal that still carried $43.2 million in salary for 2026 and 2027. The new deal pays Simmons $56 million over those two years and $102.9 milion from 2028 through 2030.
The important factor here, though, is that the Bears are taking on $130 million of salary for 10 games in 2026 and 68 games across the remaining four seasons, for a total of 78 games.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys absorbed Williams contract for eight games of 2025 at just under $8.4 million. This summer, two months after Simmons set the record for defensive tackle contracts and two weeks after the Eagles obliterated that number for Jalen Carter, Williams was inked for less than $100,000 more than Simmons.
Williams had $47.1 million left on his two years before the extension. His new deal brought the total contract signed to $153 million across five remaining seasons.
Availability
Williams has appeared in 105 of a possible 117 games entering the 2026 season, or 90%, Simmons appeared in 99 of a possible 117, or 85%. It's not perfect, but it's important to handicap what future availability may look like based on precedence.
- Cowboys will pay $161.4M for 90% of 93 games of Williams, or 84 games, or $1.92M per expected game
- Bears will pay $130M for 78 games of Simmons, or 66 games, or $1.97M per expected game
Performance
Both players are four-time Pro Bowlers and one-time First-Team All Pros, though Simmons also has two Second-Team All Pro nods to his resume. His First-Team nod was in 2025, while Williams was back in 2022.
Simmons' average PFF grade since 2024 is 81.8, Williams' is 73.3.
Conclusion
The Bears paid 3.2% more in draft-pick compensation for Simmons, and will pay 2.6% more in expected financial compensation per game for him. However, based on PFF grades, they are getting about a 9.7% bump in performance.
From that perspective, the Cowboys may have slightly overpaid for Williams, but it's nothing too egregious.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Did Cowboys overpay for Quinnen Williams? Simmons trade to Bears spurs look
