Spagnola: Revealing answer to pressing question – Mickey Spagnola, DallasCowboys.com
What should the Cowboys do next to help their roster?
FRISCO, Texas – On a drizzly Thursday out here at The Star, around noonish while the Cowboys defensive players were out on the two fields briefly covered by water during a Tuesday one-hour monsoon going through their Phase II offseason drills, had time to reconsider last week’s answer to this question:
What other roster moves are needed?
My initial inclination was sticking to my previous answer for weeks: Inside linebacker.
But after all, the Cowboys
did trade for fourth-year linebacker Dee Winters, a first-time starter for the 49ers last year finishing with 101 tackles while playing 92 percent of the snaps, meaning rarely coming off the field. They did draft LB/DE Jaishawn Barham in the third round. Sure looks the part lining up with the inside linebackers during these jersey and shorts drills. Talks the part. Wears No. 55 appropriately.
And finally, after being drafted in the third round of 2023, missing his rookie season with a torn ACL during training camp, then tearing the ACL on his other knee in the 13th game of the 2024 season – reducing his 2025 participation to six late season games – let’s remember DeMarvion Overshown finally will be fully participating in the offseason workouts in preparation for the 2026 season.
So, inside linebacker not all as needy as seemingly perceived before the draft.
That then caused me to ask myself, what other position most needs reinforcing?
Maybe QB, but did sign somewhat of a veteran quarterback Sam Howell in free agency to provide backup competition for Joe Milton and if nothing else to likely add a third quarterback to the mix.
Dallas Cowboys coordinator on path to become head coach – but 2026 comes first – Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Offensive coordinator Klayton Adams is essential to keeping the Cowboys offense at the top of the NFL.
This offseason, Adams has been hard at work figuring out how to make the Cowboys’ offense better than it was in the first year under his and Schottenheimer’s guidance. While the honor of being in Orlando is a sign of what his future could look like, he emphasized that his feet are grounded with where he is in Dallas.
“I try to think of it as I really need to dig in and think harder about what I’m doing,” he said. “Because I always want to keep both eyes on my job. I don’t think you get the next opportunity until you master the opportunity you’re in. I just look at all the stuff that we’ve done over the last year in Dallas, and you see a lot of things and holes that we want to get better at. That’s been my primary focus.”
While the offense exceeded expectations statistically, there were still areas of the unit that are in need of improvement. The Cowboys were in the bottom half of the league in giveaways, top-five in quarterback pressures allowed and bottom-half in red zone touchdown percentage. All of those points are at the top of mind for Adams heading into 2026.
“One of the biggest things is we want to take care of the football better than we did a year ago,” Adams said. “We want to protect the quarterback better than we did a year ago. We want to be better in the red zone than we were a year ago. A lot of those things were not just things we needed to answer going into the offseason, it’s how do you dig into this, and what is the root of some of these issues, and how do we solve those problems? I feel really good about the process in the offseason with the staff of really attacking those problems.”
Sam Williams, a forgotten Cowboy, could be X-factor heading into 2026 – Terence Watson, Cowboys Wire
Will Sam Williams step up after re-signing with Dallas?
When Sam Williams was drafted back in 2022, the Dallas Cowboys had high hopes for the athletic freak coming out of Ole Miss. During his time in college, Williams registered 134 tackles, 20.5 sacks, and 31.5 tackles for loss. He would walk into Dallas with the backing of then-defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, playing in a hybrid defensive scheme that deployed edge rushers similar to Ole Miss. In his first two seasons, Williams’ arrow was trending up in Dallas, based on his on-field production and a nomination for defensive rookie of the year.
Since then, the arrow has trended down for Williams, who is now a core special-teams player and no longer viewed as the pass-rusher the Cowboys drafted in 2022. Williams believes the 2026 season is a chance to turn his career around, thanks to defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s scheme change and his fit within the scheme. Connecting the dots, it makes sense. Even more than Quinn, Parker primarily runs his defense out of the 3-4 defensive fronts, Williams best scheme fit, and when he was most productive.
scheme in Dallas changed to a traditional 4-3 front. Before he could play in it, though, Williams would suffer a torn ACL and MCL, missing the entire season. He would return in 2025, but Williams statistically fell short of his past production, unable to utilize his speed effectively off the edge.
Cowboys Insider Believes Will Add Another Linebacker Before Season – Randy Gurzi, Cowboys On SI
The Cowboys have addressed linebacker this offseason, but more wouldn’t hurt.
There were no real strengths on the Dallas Cowboys’ defense in 2025, but one of their more glaring issues was at linebacker.
They leaned heavily on Kenneth Murray, who struggled mightily and had a 38.8 overall grade from PFF. They also had to start rookie fifth-round pick Shemar James, who showed flashes, but wasn’t ready for the role he had to take on.
Despite the issues at the position, the Cowboys haven’t made many moves this offseason. They did well in adding Dee Winters in a draft-day trade with the San Francisco 49ers, giving them a quality starter. They also have DeMarvion Overshown, who can be a game-changer, but comes with question marks due to health.
Cowboys expected to add another inside linebacker
That’s why Cowboys insider Jon Machota says he can see them adding someone either before training camp or right before the season begins. He does believe Overshown is forgotten at times, but the injuries are a concern.
“Overshown is a guy that I kind of think is a little forgotten sometimes because of the injuries, and if he can stay healthy, he would be a really interesting piece to all of this, because I still maintain that inside linebacker spot to me, I just don’t think it’s done there yet,” Machota said on Cowboys Collective. “I still think there’s another move to be made there, whether it be before training camp or right before the season starts.”
This approach isn’t a bad idea since it gives the Cowboys time to see what the players they currently have on their roster are capable of. It also keeps them from adding someone who could be a progress stopper should James come into camp and look significantly better than he did in 2025. The same could be true with Barham, who has the talent to surprise people during his rookie season.
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