The Dallas Cowboys, after a valiant effort to find a linebacker this offseason in free agency–Quay Walker, Nakobe Dean, Devin Lloyd were top-of-the-market targets who got offers but chose to go elsewhere–wound up settling for a less stellar option when they added 49ers linebacker Dee Winters in a trade during the draft, sending out a fifth-round pick. Winters was a solid move, and he has potential after a breakout year in San Francisco, but he is not exactly a game-changer.
Now that the Cowboys have had a look at their linebacker room in OTAs, with Winters in place, DeMarvion Overshown perhaps playing more strong-side linebacker and rookie Jaishawn Barham in the mix, the feeling is that Dallas might yet be a body short. But they’re in luck, because there happens to be a very crafty and experienced star still on the free-agent market who has ties to Brian Schottenheimer and could likely step in ahead of training camp.
If you’ve been following the offseason for the Cowboys, you’ve surely heard the name speculatively connected to Dallas before: future Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner.
‘I’d Still Go Get Bobby Wagner’
Yes, the Cowboys have been urged to bring in Wagner going back to the NFL combine, while the opening of free agency was still weeks away. Former Cowboys scout Brian Broaddus, now a prominent media figure around town, is again urging them to move forward on Wagner, as the Cowboys have no clear-cut answer at middle linebacker.
Both Winters and Overshown are better suited to chase the football on the weak side, and there just isn’t a solid, workmanlike middle linebacker to focus on stuffing the run.
Said Broaddus, speaking on 105.3 The Fan on Wednesday: “I’d still go get Bobby Wagner. I’d still go get Bobby Wagner to play that Miike linebacker because yesterday at practice, they were trying to kind of figure all that out. They were trying to figure out how much do you trust Shemar James, Barham could be the guy but to me, the one thing you need for this defense is, you need to get it off to a good start. We all love Overshown, we all love him.
“But man, Will McClay does a really good job of trying to protect himself. Go get Bobby Wagner.”
Cowboys’ Depth Is Short in the Middle
Wagner, of course, is a 14-year veteran with 10 Pro Bowls and six All-Pro selections under his belt, who helped lead the Seahawks to a Super Bowl title, and was still in Seattle when Schottenheimer–who has professed his love for Wagner–was in Seattle. He’s 36 and has lost a step in coverage, and that’s the downside. But he would be an excellent security blanket for this Cowboys linebacker group, which is still being cobbled together with misfit pieces.
Overshown could move to Mike, but even if he can handle that role, his injury history looms (19 games since he was drafted in 2023). At the very least, the Cowboys need the depth.
Said Broaddus: “Say you want to go ahead and start Overshown and all that, great. But you have Bobby Wanger there if something were to go wrong. And something—and it could be injury and it could be that Overshown is not a really good Mike linebacker and he is better playing in the weak linebacker, he’s better running to the football, he’s better playing in Dee Winters’ spot than he is taking on blocks.
“I don’t know if you’re going to be able to control the run with Overshown being your Mike linebacker.”
A little depth could not hurt.
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