FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys entered Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft without a second-round pick, but they weren't willing to sit around and wait to go onto the clock with the 92nd-overall pick in the third round, so they struck a trade with the San Francisco 49ers to acquire linebacker Dee Winters.
Winters helps the Cowboys check off the box at linebacker, something they've been trying to do since the start of free agency, and marks the second trade with the 49ers in only a matter of weeks — the first being to send defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa to Santa Clara in exchange for the aforementioned third-round pick.
The 49ers received the 152nd-overall pick (5th-round in 2026) in exchange for Winters.
Winters, 25, is a former sixth-round pick of the 49ers in 2023, earning the nod after being named a First-team All-Big 12 talent for TCU in 2022. Playing at TCU for the entirety of his collegiate career gave the Cowboys extra access to scouting him throughout and in the pre-draft process, and the trade brings Winters home — a Brenham, Texas native that attended Burton High School in South Texas.
He joins another Texas native, DeMarvion Overshown, along with Shemar James in trying to reverse the course of the LB room in 2026, with Christian Parker at the helm as defensive coordinator and Scott Symons coaching up the linebackers directly as their position coach.
The move comes on the heels of the Cowboys trading up one spot to acquire former Ohio State safety Caleb Downs and acquiring former UCF pass rusher Malachi Lawrence with the 23rd-overall pick, the first costing Dallas two of their 2026 fifth-round picks while the latter was a trade down that gained them two 2026 fourth-round picks from the Philadelphia Eagles.
