![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.profootballrumors.com\/files\/2026\/03\/USATSI_27882714-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a>Among their top priorities was the linebacker position. Kenneth Murray<\/a>\u00a0and Shemar James<\/a> both finished the season with sub-40.0 grades from Pro Football Focus (subscription required), putting them right alongside the Bengals for the worst starting duo in the league. Rotational contributors like Jack Sanborn<\/a>, Logan Wilson<\/a>, and Marist Liufau<\/a> could not step up and fill the games, though DeMarvion Overshown<\/a> played well upon his return from injury in November.<\/p>\nDallas let Murray, Sanborn, and Wilson hit free agency, with Wilson electing to retire. Overshown will start in 2026, the final year of his rookie deal, but the Cowboys need to find a running mate and potential successor. The team considered three options (via Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News<\/a>): Nakobe Dean<\/a>, Quay Walker<\/a>, and Patrick Queen<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dean and Walker, who started together at Georgia, reunited in Las Vegas. The Cowboys could have afforded to match or even beat the Raiders\u2019 offers, but the former Bulldogs have said that the opportunity to once again play next to each other was a key motivator in their decision. The same opportunity was not available in Dallas with Overshown locked in as a starter.<\/p>\n That left Queen, the Ravens\u2019 first-round pick in 2020 who signed with their AFC North rivals in free agency in 2024. His grades from PFF<\/a> have slipped in Pittsburgh relative to his last two years in Baltimore, with a significant step back from 2024 to 2025. Queen\u2019s 20.4 % missed tackle rate was the highest of his career, as were his 829 yards and 11.2 yards per reception allowed when targeted in coverage.<\/p>\n Queen was owed $13.33MM in 2026, per OverTheCap<\/a>, with $2.5MM getting paid out as a roster bonus on March 15. With his declining performance, 2026 compensation, and a new coaching staff, Pittsburgh could have considered moving the 6-foot-1 linebacker, but the Cowboys decided not to pursue a deal. It is unknown if the Steelers even would have been open to such a deal.<\/p>\n Dallas has yet to add a linebacker this offseason, with James, Liufau, and Justin Barron<\/a>\u00a0as the returning candidates to start next to Overshown. There are still a few proven veterans available \u2013 Bobby Okereke<\/a> and Germaine Pratt<\/a> chief among them \u2013 as well as a strong crop of linebacker prospects in April\u2019s draft. The Cowboys should be able to find a starter on Day 1 or 2 with the option of making a post-draft veteran addition or two to round out the room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a dismal defensive showing in 2025, the Cowboys entered the offseason looking to upgrade their roster on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[2245,72071,9,24,63,126,127,72072,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-178299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-nakobe-dean","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-patrick-queen","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-quay-walker","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}