How does the former 49ers linebacker fit into the middle of the defense for the Cowboys?
The Dallas Cowboys acquired linebacker Dee Winters, to his surprise, from the San Francisco 49ers in a draft during the 2026 NFL draft. Winters, admittedly, was caught off guard by the move. However, it does set up a bit of a homecoming for the former TCU Horned Frogs product – and a strong fit to fix some issues with the Cowboys defense.
Dallas sent the Niners a fifth rounder to acquire Winters to bolster the middle of their defense, reshaping the linebackers unit alongside new third rounder Jaishawn Barham. Winters had a breakout campaign in 2025 after spending his first two seasons as a backup. With a tremendous number of injuries, notably to Fred Warner, Winters gained opportunity, ultimately starting 17 games for San Francisco and posting 101 tackles, eight tackles for loss, five pass deflections, and one pick-six.
It was a bit of a stunner by the Niners to trade such an established player, particularly after experiencing the great degree of injuries they had last season. Their approach seems to still be in awareness of that fact, choosing to operate towards building depth of literal bodies over more quality players that could go down.
To get the analysis from that departure and the Niners’ strategy in dealing winters, here is the full story from 49ers Roundtable writer Savanah Tujague.
For the Cowboys, they need a sideline-to-sideline backer who can stop opposing rush attacks, with new defensive coordinator Christian Parker planning to deploy Winters in space and utilize his speed and physicality to reshape that unit.
Here is the full story from Cowboys Roundtable writer Nathan Karseno on the team’s search for a green-dot linebacker and whether Winters fits that bill.
Winters grew as a defender last season and got better at reading offenses, looking to enter Year 4 of his career with some momentum and a carved out role on his new team. Should Dallas be able to continue developing Winters, he could end up being a key puzzle piece for the overhauled defense under Parker.