DT Johnathan Hankins Exit from Dallas Might be Fuelled by Another Major Cowboys Member Who Left in 2023

The Dallas Cowboys keep on losing players left and right in free agency as Jhonathan Hankins has signed an agreement with the Seahawks. This exit comes only a week after they lost their veteran Left tackle Tyron Smith to the Jets. Smith who started 13 games last season, will now be protecting Rodgers blindside after spending 13 seasons in Dallas.

This forces the Cowboys to look for that heavy presence in LT in the first two days of the draft. As if the loss of one experienced player was enough, America’s team is losing their Defensive Tackle Hankins who spent a year and a half in Dallas and will be moving to Seattle.

As per Blitz’s Kyle Youmans and Nick Harris, there was interest in him from the Commanders, and could have moved there given the recent movement of Defensive players to Washington but what tipped the needle in the Seahawk’s favor was the presence of Aiden Durde in Mike McDonald’s coaching staff.

Durde spent two seasons with the Cowboys as their defensive line coach, before moving to Seattle in 2024 to be their new Defensive Coordinator. Hankins had a great impact on that defensive line last season, which was enough for Durde to convince his new bosses to bring the former Giants DT on board. They said,

“We are looking at all these defensive free agents and even offensive free agents that could have been going to Washington with Dan Quinn, we’ve seen Dante Fowler, Noah Igbinoghene, Tyler Ott make their way to the nation’s capital. But one connection I think people may have forgotten about as this free agency went on was former Defensive line coach Aiden Durde becoming the DC with the Seahawks and it’s hard to underestimate how big the impact Hankins had on D-Line last season. Aiden Durde was able to speak up and get Hankins on his defensive lineup in Seattle for next season.”

This is a big loss for Jerry Jones’s team, something they have to address through the draft. Seattle is getting a big guy up front on a year-long deal something which their new HC Mike Macdonald prefers.

Jhonathan Hankins Career Stats

Hankins made 14 appearances for the Cowboys last season, contributing 3 sacks and 27 tackles along with two pass deflections. Drafted out of Ohio State by the Giants in 2013, Jonathan has spent 11 seasons in the league. During those eleven years, he has played in 152 games, contributing 403 tackles, 17.5 sacks, 12 Pass deflections, and 3 forced fumbles. Interestingly, he has never made an interception in his decade-long career.

As per Seattle Sports, Defensive Tackle was the need of the hour for the Seahawks’ defense as they boasted one of the worst run defenses each of the last two years. Standing at over 300 pounds, MacDonald has found a guy to stop those runs. The new Seattle coach has always favored big over 300-pound defensive guys who take up space and that is something that will be very hard to find in the upcoming draft, which may boast of really athletic defensive guys but not many over 300 pounds.