INDIANAPOLIS – When Brian Schottenheimer got to the podium for his first interview at the NFL Scouting Combine as the Cowboys head coach, he knew there would be plenty of questions about his journey to this position, his new coaching staff and his thoughts on the draft and free agency.

But right off the jump, the first question regarded a potential news item that has been surfacing here in the last few days.

The Cowboys could be closing in on a deal with defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, who is expected to be an unrestricted free agent next month.

If a deal is not completed by Tuesday, March 4, the Cowboys could use the franchise tag to secure Odighizuwa for the 2025 season. That would be a one-year deal, north of $24 million.

However, the Cowboys could avoid that with a multi-year contract with Odighizuwa.

“I think there’s a lot of ongoing conversations,” Schottenheimer said Thursday from the media center at the NFL Combine. “Obviously Osa has done a terrific job for us. He’s a terrific young player. He does everything right and as the communications keep going. It’s never done until it’s done, but he’d be a guy we’d love to have back.”

Odighizuwa is coming off his best season with 4.5 sacks and 54 quarterback pressures. That’s just 10 less than the 64 pressures Odighizuwa racked up in his three seasons combined.

The Cowboys don’t have a ton of depth in the middle of their defensive line, with only Mazi Smith has the only experienced player under contract for 2025 and beyond.

Re-signing Odighizuwa could be a huge boost to Matt Eberflus’ defense but there still would need to be other pieces to the puzzle – something that could be fill through the NFL Draft as well.

But in terms of adding players, Schottenheimer was adamant about starting from within before the outside.

“As you look at it, you always wanna look at your own roster first. So who can we bring back? Who are the guys that we feel like are cornerstones of what we’re trying to get done?” Schottenheimer said. ” I believe in this … I think that there’s talent acquisition, which is adding players – whether they’re internal, external, whatever that is.”

And from the sounds of things, that could start with Odighizuwa. Considering Schottenheimer used the word “terrific” twice to describe him, that would be a great boost ahead of free agency, which starts in the middle of March.