The Dallas Cowboys agreed to terms with 2025 second-round pick Donovan Ezeiruaku on Thursday night, a person familiar with the deal told The Dallas Morning News.
The deal for the defensive end is for four years and $10.1 million, with approximately 84.5% guaranteed, another person with knowledge of the deal told The News.
Dallas has now agreed to contracts with all nine members of its rookie class. Ezeiruaku had been the only Cowboys draft pick left unsigned.
But Ezeiruaku was not the only NFL second-round pick who signed later than normal. That’s because something abnormal happened this year.
For the first time, two second-round picks signed fully guaranteed contracts. Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger and Texans wide receiver Jayden Higgins signed guaranteed deals shortly after the draft concluded. Usually, guaranteed deals are reserved for first-round picks. The deals for Schwesinger and Higgins set a new standard that other second-round picks had hoped to meet, causing an unexpected delay in their signings.
The logjam was broken Wednesday night when defensive tackle Alfred Collins, the No. 43 overall pick by San Francisco, signed a four-year deal worth $10.3 million, ESPN reported, with 88% of the total contract guaranteed.
The first three years of Ezeiruaku’s four-year deal are fully guaranteed, with the final year partially guaranteed at 38%.
The Cowboys selected Ezeiruaku (pronounced Ezz-AH-rah-koo) at No. 44 overall, and at the time the defensive end was called “the perfect complement to Micah Parsons.” Ezeiruaku was one of the top pass rushers in the class, giving Dallas another weapon along its defensive front.
The delay in signing didn’t stop Ezeiruaku from participating in the Cowboys’ offseason activities. He practiced for all of organized team activities and mandatory minicamp.
“I’m here doing what I have to do every single day,” Ezeiruaku said earlier this offseason. “That’s between the organization and my agent. I have full faith that they’re gonna get that done. When it’s ready, it’ll be ready and I’ll sign that piece of paper.
“I’m living the dream.”
In his final season at Boston College in 2024, Ezeiruaku (6-2.5, 248 pounds) had the most productive season of his collegiate career. He posted 80 tackles, 20.5 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks, earning multiple honors that included being named a consensus All-American and ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
The Cowboys went into the 2025 draft wanting to add to their depth on the defensive line, especially on the edge. Other Cowboys defensive ends Marshawn Kneeland and Sam Williams are both coming off health issues, as Williams suffered a torn ACL in training camp last season and Kneeland spent five weeks on injured reserve with a knee injury.
Ezeiruaku joins Parsons and Cowboys free-agent signing Dante Fowler in what looks to be a talented pass-rushing front in Dallas.
It’s early, but Ezeiruaku has already impressed Dallas coaches with his attentiveness and ability.
“You can’t watch the guy and not get excited just watching him do the things that we’re doing out there on the grass; the things that we saw coming out of Boston College,” Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “And then the work ethic is elite.”
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