Dallas eyes defensive upgrades. Can the Cowboys pry a key linebacker from Houston, or will the Texans hold firm?
The NFL offseason is always full of roster moves and additions. These moves come during free agency and the NFL Draft, but organizations will also look around the league for talent on other rosters. The trade market is always intriguing, as it is interesting to see how much team's value players at certain positions.
One team that has been poking around the league, trying to make a deal, has been the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys had an extremely competitive offense during the 2025 season, but the defense held the team back and ultimately kept the franchise out of the postseason. Dallas badly needs a linebacker, and General Manager Jerry Jones has been trying to get deals done across the league. Dallas was interested in Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen, but those talks did not go anywhere.
Dallas couldn't land Queen from Pittsburgh, but Jones is still looking for a linebacker. A few of the players that could be targeted by Dallas were mentioned by Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and the main players included were Jordyn Brooks of the Miami Dolphins and Azeez Al-Shaair of the Texans.
Brooks seems like a reasonable target for Dallas, as Miami has been going through some sort of fire sale as of late, while landing Al-Shaair seems like a long shot. He might not be the best linebacker in the league, but he is an important piece of Houston's defense and one of the team's top leaders. Houston beat writer Jonathan Alexander wrote about these trade "rumors" in a post to X: "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. A potential extension is still on the table.”
Alexander seems pretty confident that General Manager Nick Caserio would not even consider trading Al-Shaair. He also noted that an extension for the inside linebacker is also a possibility during the 2026 offseason. He is currently under contract through just the 2026 season, and locking him in to an extension this offseason can allow the Texans to get better value from a new contract.