Dante Fowler fined for unnecessary roughness penalty in preseason

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Dante Fowler was fined $10,609 this afternoon for an unnecessary roughness penalty he was given last week against the Denver Broncos in their preseason opener, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The former Florida Gator was flagged for pushing a man off the pile after a play was already whistled dead.

It wasn’t a smart play and that’s exactly why Cowboys‘ head coach Mike McCarthy decided to bench him for the rest of the game. Dallas was the most penalized team in the NFL for the 2021 season and racked up a whopping 127 penalties, according to StatMuse. Clearly, McCarthy wants to cut down on those this year and that’s why he sent a clear message. Still, there’s no denying Fowler’s exceptional talent as a pass rusher and he’s expected to step up and replace the void left by Randy Gregory, who moved onto the Denver Broncos.

Outside of the penalty, Fowler flashed the elite pass rushing ability that once made him a top three overall selection in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Dante Fowler has set his expectations very high for 2022

He recently set high expectations for his first season with the Cowboys.

The former top-three draft pick is readying to prove to the rest of the NFL that they never should’ve doubted him.

“Oh yeah, I got some stuff to prove,” stated Fowler, via The Athletic. “Prove that I am who I am, and I can be a double-digit sack guy, and I’m one of the best ends in the league.

“.. What (Randy Gregory was doing last year), it’s my turn to do that.”

The former Florida standout was the third overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft to the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he showcased his immense talent before taking his talents to other franchises across the league.

Unfortunately, Fowler tore his ACL on the first day of mini-camp the year he was drafted, causing him to miss his entire rookie season. Then, the gifted pass rusher made his pro debut in 2016 and totaled 53 tackles and 12 sacks over the next two seasons. The Jaguars then traded him to the Los Angeles Rams midway through the 2018 season, in exchange for third and fifth round picks.

Fowler went on to play a big role for LA the rest of the season, even recording four tackles in their Super Bowl loss to the Patriots. The Rams signed him to a one-year, $14 million extension the following season. Fowler shined in his first full season with the Rams in 2019, finishing with career highs in tackles (58) and sacks (11.5). That enabled him to sign a three-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons the following offseason. He totaled 7.5 sacks over the next two seasons, before the franchise released him in February.

The defensive end joins a Dallas Cowboys team coming off of a 12-5 season in which they lost to San Francisco in the wild card round of the 2022 NFL playoffs. One familiar face he knows very well with the Cowboys is defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, whom he played for while at Florida. The Cowboys finished with 41 sacks as a team last season, which tied them with Arizona for 13th in the league.

The addition of Fowler should surely help in that department. He’ll be a nice pairing alongside Micah Parsons and company.

On3’s Chandler Vessels and Stephen Samra also contributed to this article.