Desperate for linebacker help, the Cowboys eye Ohio State's Sonny Styles, a versatile defensive star who could be their defensive rebuild cornerstone.
FRISCO - Now that it's pretty much baseball season around here ...
Three strikes ... and when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys trying to build a linebacker room using outside-the-building veterans ...
They're out.
The Cowboys deserve some credit for having made a trio of assertive moves in this department.
Last spring, under the guidance of new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, they signed high-IQ linebacker Jack Sanborn from the Chicago Bears - where Eberflus had just been the head coach before being fired.
They also traded for Kenneth Murray, the off-the-charts athlete from the Tennessee Titans.
And then at the trade deadline, they did it again, grabbing Logan Wilson in a deal with the Cincinnati Bengals.
The results? Sanborn has spent most of the season on IR. Murray is rated the No. 82 linebacker in the NFL (out of 87) by PFF. And Wilson has been such a non-factor that the coaching staff literally forgot about putting him into the Week 17 game at Washington.
Sanborn came here on a cheap one-year, $1.5 million deal. Murray was expensive at $7.4 million for 2025 but his deal is now up. And Wilson has no guaranteed money left on his contract, so Dallas figures to part ways with him as well and take a $6.5 million savings.
Of course, that leaves some vacancies in the linebacker room alongside DeMarvion Overshown. So what's the next move?
The Cowboys can create $110 million in cap room this spring, so taking another swing at a proven vet is doable. But our pal Dane Brugler, a draft guru with keen insight into the Cowboys, has a prediction.
"Sonny Styles,'' Brugler tweets, "is going to look good in a Dallas jersey.''
Brugler is being a bit playful here; it's too early to lock anybody into mock draft predictions. And there are other premium linebackers who figure to be worthy of one of Dallas two first-round picks, including C.J. Allen of Georgia, Anthony Hill of Texas and Styles' Ohio State teammate Arvell Reese.
But the Styles projection is a tantalizing one.
The 6-foot-4, 243-pounder is a tackling machine as he racked up 81 total tackles with 0.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one interception. Some scouts think he could be utilized as a pass-rusher in the NFL due to his speed. And in addition to Brugler's endorsement, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr has Styles ranked at No. 12 amongst the top 25 prospects in the nation.
Oh, and I know the Cowboys scouting department has a high regard for both Buckeyes star linebackers, Styles and Reese.
So yeah, Styles would figure to "look good in a Dallas uniform'' ... but after the failures of the Cowboys' 2025 defense - arguably the NFL's worst? Improvement shouldn't be all that hard to come by.