IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys have signed restricted free agent defensive end Benson Mayowa to a three-year offer sheet worth $8.25 million, including a $3.3 million signing bonus, according to sources, and now have to wait to see if the Oakland Raiders will match.
The deal can void to two years based on playing time and sacks, a source said.
Mayowa visited the Cowboys' Valley Ranch facility on Friday and had a physical before signing the offer sheet. The Raiders have until midnight ET on Wednesday to match.
Because Mayowa was not drafted in 2013, the Cowboys will not owe the Raiders any compensation. Oakland gave Mayowa the right-of-first-refusal tender worth $1.671 million. The Raiders will have the cap space necessary to match the offer, so it will come down to whether the team wants to pay such a salary.
Mayowa was with the Seattle Seahawks in 2013 as an undrafted free agent and spent the past two seasons with the Raiders and had two sacks. In 12 games for the Raiders in 2015, he had 16 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and a safety.
The Cowboys turned their attention to Mayowa after losing out on Chris Long (who signed with the New England Patriots) and Andre Branch (who joined the Miami Dolphins) this week. They have a need at defensive end with Greg Hardy, Jeremy Mincey and Jack Crawford all unsigned on the free-agent market.
DeMarcus Lawrence, who led the Cowboys in sacks last season with eight, is recovering from offseason back surgery. Randy Gregory, last year's second-round pick, will miss the first four games of the season for a suspension.
If Oakland does not match, then Mayowa would be the first restricted free agent the Cowboys have signed since the free agency system began.