Dallas actively pursuing Pro Bowl linebackers? Or discussing deals for defensive stars to bolster their roster before the draft?
FRISCO - Everybody outside the Dallas Cowboys’ headquarters here at The Star knows this team’s roster is a linebacker short.
And it appears the Cowboys themselves know it - and are acknowledging it - as well.
Dallas did take some swings at the inside linebacker position in Tier 1 NFL Free Agency. They bid on Nakobe Dean of the Eagles and on Quay Walker of the Packers. But both players, maybe oddly, passed on Dallas’ offers to instead team up with the Raiders.
Should the search for that “green-dot’’ team leader to line up in the middle of the new ““3-4 Hybrid’’ defense be over? It should not.
But is it? White puffs of smoke wafting from The Star suggest it is not.
The Miami Dolphins are involved in a strip-down and rebuilt as they just cut quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and his massive contract while also shipping off top receiver Jaylen Waddle.
Could they trade star linebacker Jordyn Brooks - last year’s tackles leader - next?
It seems Dallas is interested.
ESPN’s Todd Archer briefly mentions Brooks and the nose-diving Dolphins as a place and a player potentially worth targeting.
And now chiming in is Fort Worth Star-Telegram beat writer Nick Harris, even, even more provocatively noting that Dallas is “discussing’’ the idea of trading for Brooks, a Houston native and Texas Tech grad, who posted an NFL-high 183 tackles in 2025, along with 3.5 sacks.
Harris also mentions Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair as a “discussion’’ item and possible trade target.
What would be Houston’s thinking there in giving up a team-captain centerpiece of their stellar defense? The Cowboys might hope that because he’s in the final year of his deal, the Texans don’t want to pay the freight for a new contract.
Jones claimed to be planning to “bust the budget” this offseason - and so far, relative to what Dallas usually has done, it’s true. Safety Jalen Thompson’s $11 million salary is the largest external free-agent price Dallas has added in almost 15 years. And edge Rashan Gary, a trade get from Green Bay, will be making $15 million APY.
In the case of Brooks, who will be turning 29? He would be a $10.8 million commitment for 2026.
In the case of Al-Shaair, also 29? He’s got a $12.8 million salary this year.
What might it take to pull off a deal? The third-round pick just gained in the Osa trade to the Niners? How about an idea from reader Mark B, who suggests that Dallas swap pick No. 20 down to Miami's pick No. 30 (yes, that's about a Round 3 pick value) to do the deal?
Clever thinking. And what is Dallas thinking?
Is the message that the Jerry Jones-led Cowboys are whole-heartedly targeting linebacker before the NFL Draft? Unfortunately, not necessarily. The message is that they are “discussing’’ it … which, we suppose is a start.