Dallas covets Houston's defensive linchpin, but the Texans aren't laughing—they're hanging up. Al-Shaair's crucial role makes a trade highly improbable.
It is that time of the year we see sillier trade proposals. One of those involves one of the key players from the Houston Texans' NFL-best defense in 2025.
Dallas Cowboys writers have noted that the Cowboys will be looking to upgrade their linebacker room for next season and could be exploring trades. One player named as someone they would likely want to add is Houston Texans pro bowl linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.
The Cowboys are often known for grabbing headlines and commanding attention. However, it is often the case that their highly publicized interest in making a deal with a player is often speculative rather than substantive.
Houston Texans insider Jonathan M. Alexander of the Houston Chronicle shared on social media his read of the situation and whether or not the Texans would be willing to part with Al-Shaair before the 2026 season. According to Alexander, as well as many others, perhaps you should not count on the linebacker going anywhere any time soon.
"For what it’s worth, two things can be true. The Cowboys could very much be discussing Azeez Al-Shaair, and the Texans could very much hang up the phone and laugh.
I say that half-jokingly. But aside from his relationship with Ryans, Al-Shaair is the heart of the defense and a huge reason they were No. 1.
The Texans have no plans to part ways with him, even if the Cowboys are interested. An potential extension is still on the table."
For starters, the Texans are gearing up to compete for big things in the postseason this offseason. Few teams if any have been more active than the team in free agency or trades. A common theme for the offseason has been returning as many players from their league leading defense as they possibly can. Parting with Al-Shaair does not make sense on that level alone.
While true that the star linebacker's contract will expire soon, the Texans could just as easily work out a contract for him to return beyond 2026 as they could let him go after the season. In addition, the publicized nature of the potential move might make it even more unlikely.
With the Cowboys, as is the case with other NFL teams, if a move were going to be made, we might see less talk about it. Dallas' big trades for players like wide receiver Amari Cooper were sudden rather than drawn out public shows of interest.
The reality is, the Texans probably are not going to want to move Al-Shaair at all, and the Cowboys probably are not going to give up what it takes to pull off the trade anyway. Look for the pro bowl linebacker to be back with Houston in 2026.