So sad to see him go: Dallas Cowboys lose key player on two-year contract to Seattle Seahawk.

Johnathan Hankins signed with the Seattle Seahawks. 

The Dallas Cowboys have lost another free agent this summer, as veteran defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins has signed with the Seattle Seahawks, ending his two-year stay in Dallas.

Hankins will reunite with former Cowboys defensive line coach Aden Durde, who currently serves as the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator under new head coach Mike MacDonald.

Acquired in the middle of the 2022 season in exchange for a sixth-round pick, Hankins played in 19 games for the Cowboys in two seasons and accounted for 37 tackles, three tackles for loss and three sacks. His only time off the field came when he suffered an ankle injury in December 2023 and missed three games. His presence would end up being sorely missed by the Dallas defensive front as the team would lose two of those three games while giving up an average of 160.7 rushing yards per game.

You’ve seen what the Cowboys’ run defense looks like with and without Hankins, so any consideration of re-signing him would have made a lot of sense for Dallas.

Since joining the Cowboys via trade in October 2022, the veteran, big-bodied nose tackle has reminded them of what it means to have an interior defensive lineman eating up double teams and being a brick wall that stops running backs in their tracks; and he’s ultimately the reason they decided to use a first-round pick on Mazi Smith — a reminder of the benefits of valuing the position.

“I’ve always been of the ilk that you, in this first couple of days of free agency, you pay good players like they’re great, you pay average players like they’re good, and so on and so forth,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “Because the market’s inflated in our mind. That’s one opinion. The way I look at things, too. I’ve always said it: Player acquisition is 365 days a year. It’s not just the first or second or third day of free agency.”

Jones has said something like that for years now, and it’s almost as if nobody wants to believe him. Dallas had long desired to keep its own players rather than get heavily involved in free agency. Last year, the Cowboys paid up to retain All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs and right tackle Terence Steele.

This year, they set limits on how much they could pay Smith, Pollard, Biadasz, and Armstrong and refused to budge. The exodus might not be over. Defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins may leave. Cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who is recuperating from shoulder surgery, could also sign elsewhere.

The Cowboys could add cost-effective players in the coming days and weeks, but they are banking on their ability to draft. Since Will McClay, Dallas’ vice president of player personnel, took over the draft in 2014, 13 draft picks have been named to the Pro Bowl.

The Cowboys could certainly add cost-effective players in the coming days and weeks, but they are hanging their hat on their ability to draft. Since vice president of player personnel Will McClay took over the draft in 2014, Dallas has had 13 draft picks named to at least one Pro Bowl.

“It’s not frustrating because it means we’ve done a good job with the draft,” Jones said, adding, “that’s a sign in my mind that our organization — Will and the scouting department and the coaches that have been through here — we’ve done our job of developing players.”