Can this $3.7M Cowboys addition do what 3 vets couldn't do for $10.6M?

TL;DR

The Dallas Cowboys added a new linebacker for $3.7M after three veteran linebackers failed to perform for a total of $10.6M last season. The team hopes this new addition can succeed where the veterans did not.

Key points

Dallas Cowboys added a linebacker for $3.7 million
Three veteran linebackers failed to perform in 2025
Total spent on veterans was $10.6 million
Kenneth Murray, Jack Sanborn, and Logan Wilson were the veterans
Cowboys hope for better results with the new addition

Dallas CowboysKenneth MurrayJack SanbornLogan Wilson

Can this $3.7M Cowboys addition do what 3 vets couldn't do for $10.6M?

Certain positions demand a degree of readiness when veteran additions are made; running back is generally considered plug-and-play from team to team. Cornerback is usually thought of as a smooth veteran transition, and linebacker is widely regarded as a spot where a veteran can hit the ground running somewhere new. Yet in 2025, the Dallas Cowboys struggled mightily in getting their veteran linebackers to do anything right.

The Cowboys welcomed three veteran linebackers to the mix last season: Kenneth Murray, Jack Sanborn and Logan Wilson. All three were swings and misses. Sanborn and Wilson looked like they were running in mud in 2025 and struggled to even stay on the field. Murray moved well but to all the wrong places (see also: PFF grade that ranked him 86 of 88).

The Cowboys spent $7.5 million on Murray, $1.2 million on Sanborn and $2.9 million for Wilson, totaling $10.6 million on veterans from the outside who offered little actual benefit.

The Cowboys have flushed the deck in 2026 and are taking a stab at a new veteran addition, Dee Winters. The 25-year-old product of TCU comes to Dallas after a draft weekend trade with the 49ers. He has a track record of success, playing good football on a good defense in San Francisco. On paper, Winters looks like the base hit the Cowboys need and not the strikeout that happened a year before. It’s here where Winters separates himself from the others.

The primary criticism with Sanborn and Wilson from last year is that they looked a step too slow. They might have known what to do in the mind but the body wasn’t cooperating anymore. An honest look back before they came to Dallas showed signs of this physical decline as well. Sanborn slipped to just a three-game starter his last year in , logging more special teams snaps than defensive snaps. Similarly, Wilson showed signs of decline as well. The 29-year-old was seeing a decline in snaps while simultaneously playing on a poor defense. Again, the signs were there.