FRISCO, Texas — There can be no doubt that Dallas feels like home for Javonte Williams. He has gone from being the first outside free agency signing by the Cowboys in 2025, looking to prove himself to the league after his devastating knee injury in 2022, to mounting a career-best campaign and his first-ever 1,000-yard rushing season.
One of the glaring bright spots of an otherwise disappointing season by the Cowboys, Williams reignited the rushing attack in Dallas, in monumental fashion.
As he prepares to take on the Los Angeles Chargers, however, the reality is that Dallas is unlikely to make the playoffs and that means the final three games of the regular season will be followed by another trip to free agency by the former Tar Heel but, as Williams tells it, his mind is on the next opponent and nothing more.
"Oh, no, I ain't even thought that far yet," Williams said. "I'm just focused on this last couple-game stretch, because, I mean, I know you gotta finish strong — no matter what. Just finishing strong right now is my main goal, but yeah, I love it here.
"I love my teammates. I love everybody here."
Sitting at 6-7-1 on the season, Williams has done all he can to try and help turn the tide, including playing through a neck stinger suffered earlier in the outing against the Minnesota Vikings. In all, Williams has rushed for 1,113 yards and 10 touchdowns, career-high totals in both categories, more than doubling the touchdown output of the entire RBs room in Dallas (in 2024), also adding another 128 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns to the mix.
And, again, this is with three games remaining to push those numbers that much higher ahead of free agency. Though Williams isn't entirely thinking about what awaits him in March, he did, however, make it clear he'd love to remain with the Cowboys — on the heels of head coach and offensive playcaller Brian Schottenheimer declaring his hope of keeping the young running back around for years to come.
"I don't always want to just follow money, or things like that," said Williams of his mindset for free agency. "You want to go somewhere where you actually want to succeed and be a part of something that's special. I feel like it's very special here, but I'm just trying to keep making plays right now, and see how it turns out."
For now, it's all about the Chargers, and then the Commanders and Giants, respectively, to end the season but, by all accounts, hopefully not the end to his career in Dallas.
"I just want to enjoy these last couple games," he said. "We've been through a lot, and I feel like this one of the most talented teams I've been on. So just going out there and playing together, and playing a complete game, would be enough for me."
