FRISCO, Texas -- With the 2025 regular season now behind the Cowboys, it's time to look ahead to 2026, where they'll try to get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2023.
As they begin to do so, our "What's Next" series will examine each position on the roster and look at the past, present and future of the room and the players within it. We'll continue the series with the linebackers:
Past: In all of NFL history, there is still only one player to be named Super Bowl MVP despite being on the losing team: Cowboys LB Chuck Howley, who had two interceptions and a forced fumble in Super Bowl V.
Others like Lee Roy Jordan, Ken Norton Jr. and Sean Lee stand out from the pack of previous linebackers in Dallas.
In recent history, injuries have bugged players at the position for Dallas. Lee dealt with injuries over the course of his career, and most recently Leighton Vander Esch was forced to retire for medical reasons following the 2023 season.
Present: Unfortunately for the Cowboys, injuries have held back one of their better players at the position now in DeMarvion Overshown. He's had two major knee injuries in his first three NFL seasons, but was able to return for six games in 2025 where he 28 total tackles and a tackle for loss.
Rookie fifth-round pick Shemar James was the team's leader in tackles in 2025 in just 14 games played, with Kenneth Murray 81. The unit as a whole struggled over the course of the year, and also deal with injuries, as Jack Sanborn was the next closest player at the linebacker positions in tackles with just 34 in six games played.
Future: The good news for the Cowboys heading into the offseason is that Overshown is healthy, and for the first time in his professional career, he'll have a chance to go through a full offseason process fully healthy. That's a massive leg up, and could allow him to get back the explosiveness he put on the field in 2024. He'll also be heading into a contract year.
As for the rest of the room, both Murray and Sanborn will be free agents this offseason. Logan Wilson, who the Cowboys acquired via trade at the deadline from the Bengals, is under contract and could return in 2026.
The youth of the room in Overshown, James and Marist Liufau will have a lot to prove in the offseason. Of course, free agency and the draft are two very realistic possible avenues of addition for the Cowboys, especially with a strong linebacker class projected in the 2026 draft.
