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San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dee Winters.
The Dallas Cowboys got incredible value for wide receiver George Pickens in a trade before the 2025 season, essentially giving up a 2026 3rd round pick for a player who ended up earning NFL All-Pro honors for the 1st time.
They may have made a similar deal on the defensive side of the ball by trading a 2026 5th-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for inside linebacker Dee Winters on April 24.
Winters, like Pickens, could very well be on the verge of stardom after racking up 101 tackles, 8 TFL, 5 pass deflections, and 1 interception returned 75 yards for a touchdown. He also started all 17 games for the 1st time in his career.
Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport put Winters, 5-foot-11 and 227 pounds, at the top of his list of the NFL’s best “under the radar” players about to play a major role in the upcoming season.
“The Dallas Cowboys had one of the NFL’s worst defenses in 2025, and the team took a buzzsaw to the unit in the offseason,” Davenport wrote on June 22. “There are new edge-rushers in veteran Rashan Gary and rookie Malachi Lawrence, Two new starting safeties in Jalen Thompson and first-round rookie Caleb Downs. And a potential new ‘green dot’ linebacker in Dee Winters … Winters isn’t an elite talent, but he was a steady producer for the 49ers last year. He also provides some badly needed stability for a Cowboys linebacker corps that was something of a carousel last year.”
Dee Winters Could Be Wildly Valuable for Dallas
Winters, a 2023 6th-round pick (No. 213 overall), took over the starting role for NFL All-Pro Fred Warner after a season-ending injury. If he can get that same level of production in Dallas, it represents an incredible value in the final season of his 4-year, $3.98 million rookie contract.
“(Winters) is a guy that we’ve watched play for a while,” Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer told ESPN’s Todd Archer. “Rare speed. Athleticism. Adds a veteran in the room for us.”
Winters is one of what could be 6 new starters on the defensive side of the ball for the season opener — if not more than that.
“The Dee Winters trade is great for the Cowboys,” Blogging the Boys’ RJ Ochoa wrote on his official X account. “It isn’t GREAT like he COMPLETELY CHANGES everything. But he really raises the floor of a group that was horrible last year. They can still draft another. They have simply given themselves a safety net now. That’s good business.”
Where Cowboys Stand at Inside Linebacker
The Cowboys had arguably the NFL’s worst defensive position group at inside linebacker in 2025 and arguably the NFL’s worst starter at the position in Kenneth Murray.
Former defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, even when handed a solution, refused to change things up. The Cowboys made a last-ditch trade for Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson at the trade deadline, but Eberflus essentially refused to play Wilson over Murray.
Eberflus got fired after 1 season, and the Cowboys brought in reinforcements — and not just Winters. Dallas also drafted a talented inside linebacker in the 3rd round (No. 92 overall) with 6-foot-3, 243-pound Michigan star Jaishawn Barham.
Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame