Dallas keeps feeding defensive trade buzz, but Jordyn Brooks, Maxx Crosby and Bobby Wagner each come with a very different price and reality.
Dallas Cowboys trade rumors refuse to die, and the names keep getting louder: Jordyn Brooks, Maxx Crosby and Bobby Wagner.
As discussed on The Dallas Cowboys Daily Blitz Podcast at FanStreamSports.com, Dallas isn’t hiding its desire to add defensive muscle. Stephen Jones has acknowledged the Cowboys are exploring defensive additions and would consider surrendering a premium draft pick for legitimate “firepower.”
That’s the promise. Now comes the reality check.
Brooks is the most logical fit - and probably the least realistic acquisition. The Miami Dolphins linebacker led the NFL with 183 tackles in 2025, including 99 solo stops, while adding 3.5 sacks and earning first-team All-Pro honors. Miami then rewarded him with a three-year, $51.3 million extension carrying $35 million guaranteed.
Bryan Broaddus of 105.3 The Fan recently revived the Brooks-to-Dallas chatter by suggesting the Cowboys may be hunting for a “bigger fish” than Wagner.
That set Cowboys Nation on fire for about five minutes. Reporting from Nick Harris, however, indicates Miami has no interest in moving Brooks after completing the extension.
In other words: Brooks makes football sense. He doesn’t make Miami Dolphins sense.
Then there’s Crosby, the nuclear option.
Jerry Jones previously declined to close the door on revisiting trade talks for the Las Vegas Raiders pass rusher. Dallas was reportedly among the interested teams before Baltimore’s proposed deal for Crosby - built around two first-round picks - collapsed before becoming official.
Crosby would give Dallas a defense-changing menace, but two first-rounders isn’t a trade package. It’s a hostage payment. The Cowboys should only entertain that price if they genuinely believe Crosby is the final piece of a Super Bowl roster.
Wagner is the safer play. The 36-year-old free agent recorded 158 tackles and 4.5 sacks for Washington last season. He wouldn’t bring Crosby’s chaos or Brooks’ long-term upside, but he’d bring leadership, communication and immediate credibility to a linebacker room still leaning on DeMarvion Overshown and rookie Jaishawn Barham.
Overshown is being handed the MIKE role and green-dot duties, while third-round pick Barham has flashed during camp.
That’s encouraging, but promising August practices aren’t the same thing as proven January reliability.
That leaves Dallas with three doors: chase Brooks and get rejected, mortgage the future for Crosby or make the sensible Wagner signing.
The Cowboys love winning rumor season. It’s practically a franchise tradition. But if Stephen Jones is serious about changing the defensive lineup, eventually Dallas has to stop feeding the headlines and start feeding the defense.
