The NFL Draft is finally upon us. Before the first round gets underway on April 24, let's recap what the Cowboys have done so far this offseason.
Whether it was re-signing their own players, adding new ones in free agency or making a few trades, the Cowboys were rather active in reshaping the roster under first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer.
So let's take a closer look at what each position currently looks like, starting today with the linebacker group.
What Happened: Now a full season removed from the medical retirement of Leighton Vander Esch, the Cowboys have now seen the emergence of DeMarvion Overshown as a budding superstar in his first year out of the gate following his redshirt medical season of 2023, and rookie third-round pick Marist Liufau step up in major ways to put his stamp on several games in 2024 — a duo that has the potential to be lethal for the long term.
The hiccup in that plan, at the moment, is a second major knee injury suffered by Overshown that will cost him some of the 2025 season and, though he expects to return at some point, it still leaves unanswered questions going into the summer; but a couple of free agency moves are expected to provide those answers, and fairly quickly. With Eric Kendricks no longer in the building to act as a veteran stabilizer to the otherwise exceptionally young room, the onus is on Matt Eberflus (a linebacker guru and new Cowboys' defensive coordinator) to act as that force.
What's Up: Eberflus' first roster act was to convince the Cowboys to strike a trade with the Tennessee Titans to acquire him in March, and the second was to add Jack Sanborn via free agency — the latter having spent time with Eberflus as a member of the Chicago Bears. What their respective roles will be are to-be-determined, but Murray wants to be "the man in the middle" and Sanborn isn't far off in that sentiment, also wanting to be more than a valuable special teams piece and viewing himself as an impact player in the defensive rotation.
They won't have to contend with Overshown yet for reps, that time will arrive soon enough, but that doesn't mean they're a shoo-in when considering not only Liufau, but also the chip that undoubtedly exists on the shoulder of Damone Clark. Clark is a former fourth-round pick who has flashed at times but, in 2024, was unable to get past Mike Zimmer's wall to make his way to the field consistently.
What's Next: How might Clark's summer impact the injection of Murray and Sanborn and/or vice versa, and is Liufau going to be Eberflus' green dot playcaller as he was for Zimmer? Time will tell, but this is a perfect illustration of just how much needs to be figured out, and there are only a few months remaining on the calendar to do it. There are others to contend with here as well, though mostly on the special teams and insurance/depth front, namely Buddy Johnson, Darius Harris and Brock Mogensen. Of those three, it was Mogensen really jumping off of the tape in last year's camp and preseason, though Johnson and Harris were the ones getting burn when the Cowboys' defense was being shattered by injury.
Mogensen was relegated to the practice squad for the entirety of his rookie season after being signed as an undrafted free agent. That said, there are two notable players whose rookie season was exactly that as well, but who are now integral and growing pieces to what the Cowboys want to be in the future — Juanyeh Thomas and Markquese Bell. If Mogensen can follow such a trajectory, then things get infinitely more spicy at linebacker in a mix that features a ton of potential across the board.
