Versatility is important for players existing on the bubble of an NFL roster. 53-man roster limits mean every spot is valuable and every personnel department is looking for an edge. Players who can adequately play more than one role in relief capacity are gold, and oftentimes make all the difference when teams cut down to final rosters.
The Dallas Cowboys are a team that values position flex and versatility as much as anyone. They routinely trumpet the merits of flexibility with their players and have no problem moving guys around when situations demand it.
Back in 2023, the situation indeed demanded it. The Cowboys ran out of usable linebackers, and instead of looking to the NFL scrapheap for substandard replacements, they tapped into the versatility of one of their safeties and made the move. Markquese Bell, a second-year undrafted safety out of Florida A&M, was that player. Using his 6-foot-3, 205-pound size to his advantage, he made the improbable move from safety to linebacker, and in some ways, saved the Cowboys’ season.
Bell would go on to make eight starts that season, logging a combined 94 tackles, forcing two fumbles and allowing a stingy 68.1 percent completion rate from the linebacker spot. He’d play a total of 649 defensive snaps that year, and despite being extremely slender for the position, he only posted a 4.1 missed tackle percentage.
His move to linebacker would be short-lived, with Bell moving back to safety under the next regime and essentially getting lost in the shuffle ever since. Since that 2023 season, Bell has only taken a total of 390 defensive snaps for the Cowboys, making him almost an afterthought as Dallas enters the 2026 campaign.
What Christian Parker decides to do with him this year is tough to predict. Bell enters the second year of a three-year, $9M deal, and faces a crowded safety room after the additions of Jalen Thompson, P.J. Locke and Caleb Downs. Indications are that safety is Plan A, but with Bell’s proven versatility, Plan B might very well be a specialized linebacker role once again.
Bell’s build makes him a large safety but an undersized linebacker. As such, using him in a thumper role at linebacker doesn’t make much sense. But as a nickel linebacker or a hybrid player in a big nickel, Bell might carve out a role. In 2023, he was one of the best coverage linebackers in the game, so it stands to reason there could be a role for him in 2026 in a similar capacity.
As a core special teams player, Bell has things working in his favor. C.J. Goodwin, Dallas’ longtime special teams ace, is retired and the Cowboys are in the market for stability. Depth safeties like Alijah Clark, Locke and Bell will be required to contribute here.
Even though starting spots are all spoken for at safety, Bell could still see time on defense if Parker and the Cowboys are willing to explore the option of using Bell in creative ways once again.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys 5th-year $3M player, a defensive option in multiple capacities
Reporting by Reid D Hanson, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Reid D Hanson, Cowboys Wire | USA TODAY Network
