The Dallas Cowboys remade their 2025 linebacker room with trades, free agency, and the draft, mainly because their potential superstar at the position, DeMarvion Overshown, hasn’t been able to stay healthy. The lead man of a $19.3 million position, a second major knee injury will keep Overshown off the field for a significant portion of the season.
He won’t factor into the initial 53-man roster because he will be on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. In his absence, Dallas signed Jack Sanborn, who is familiar with Matt Eberflus’ system, and traded for Kenneth Murray, an athletic freak who has started 67 games in five seasons. They also traded up to draft Shemar James and brought in Justin Barron as an undrafted free agent (UDFA).
Sanborn knows the system and, like Eric Kendricks for Mike Zimmer in 2024, Dallas will use him to help teach the defense to his young teammates. Sanborn can sport the green dot, making the defensive calls if needed, or he could be a rotational linebacker to take productive snaps. He has been a great special-teams contributor, logging 84% of those snaps last year.
Murray has been a productive starter every season since being drafted, and will be complemented by Eberflus’ expertise at the position. The Cowboys are paying Murray over $7 million for the season, and they need starting experience, as nobody else on the team has two seasons of it.
Marist Liafau is making the 53-man roster after starting nine games as a rookie with 50 tackles, four for a loss, 1.5 sacks, three pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and only one missed tackle. Liufau will be the third linebacker while James will join him as the fourth guy. The team isn’t risking a prospect they traded up into the fourth round to draft to the waiver wire. He is an excellent character guy and will play special teams immediately.
Dallas could keep six linebackers on the 53-man roster, but will need at least one more player until Overshown returns. That battle will be between Damone Clark, Barron, Buddy Johnson and Darius Harris. After a rash of injuries in 2024, Harris still only played in four games with a single tackle. With so many new options, he isn’t likely to play games now. Johnson and Clark each played 14 games, with Clark starting two, and Barron is one of the higher-paid undrafted free agent (UDFA) players the team added.
If Barron had a similar year to his 2023 season, he wouldn’t have been undrafted. He had a Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade of 81.4 overall, 76.4 against the run, 65.1 tackle grade, 76.7 pressure grade, and 82.7 coverage grade. Barron experienced a decline in 2024, dropping double digits in overall grade, tackling, and coverage. He is a long shot to make the 53-man roster, but Dallas is known for keeping UDFA players. He will have an outside chance.
Clark has the inside track. He has exciting athleticism Eberflus will look to mold into a playmaker, and he has experience starting for the Cowboys, 24 in his three seasons. He already had a 100-tackle season and showed significant progress in limited coverage snaps in 2024. Clark allowed a 30% completion percentage and under two yards per target. His potential on defense, along with nearly 500 career special-teams snaps, makes him a great candidate at a final linebacker spot.
If Johnson gets a place, it’s for his special-teams work alone. He played over 80% of special teams snaps for Dallas last season, and the end-of-the-roster players are kept to play for that unit.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Missing star attraction, Cowboys linebackers a $19 million collection of temporary fixes
Reporting by Mike Crum, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
