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Jordyn Brooks #56 could be a linebacker trade target for the Dallas Cowboys after the NFL draft.

It is no secret, of course, that the Dallas Cowboys are badly in need of linebacker help. That’s pretty much been the case since the team learned of Leighton Vander Esch’s neck injury back in 2023, a situation that saw Markquese Bell fill in at the position, followed by one-year disasters with Eric Kendricks in 2024 and Kenneth Murray in 2025. But as we sit heading into Day 2 of the NFL draft, the Cowboys still have a gaping hole in the middle.

The team has vowed that it won’t be a hole for long, though.  And after the Cowboys scooped up two fourth-round picks in a No. 20 for No. 23 swap with the Eagles in the first round, there was speculation that the Cowboys could package picks and move into the second round with a linebacker in their sights.

But the always level-headed Jon Machota of The Athletic says that before Cowboys fans indulge in dreams of Texas Tech star linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, the brakes should be pumped on second-round speculation.

Cowboys Not Looking to Trade Into 2nd Round of NFL Draft

Machota wrote on Twitter/X after the completion of the Cowboys’ first-round haul, “Inside linebacker is still the Cowboys’ biggest need. But don’t look for them to trade into the second round to grab one. The most likely scenario is now that they trade for a veteran like they did for George Pickens last year when they didn’t get their No. 2 WR in the draft.”

There is still a small number of quality linebackers on the free-agent market–we know that Brian Schottenheimer speaks highly of Bobby Wagner, the future Hall of Famer who is still unsigned–but a trade does still seem like the direction for the Cowboys.

There has been speculation that Jordyn Brooks of the Dolphins could be a Cowboys target, too, and a report from Miami indicated that the sides had at least discussed a trade. Nothing has come of that yet, but as Machota mentioned, the timeline for the Pickens trade last year was early May, and that could be the case here at linebacker.

George Pickens Trade Off the Board

The Cowboys did, however, make clear on Thursday after it was reported that George Pickens will sign the team’s franchise tag contract of one year and $27.3 million, that trading Pickens is not on the table. Indeed, the goal with the Pickens tag deal was to get him for another year at a relative bargain, and trading him would not make sense from that perspective.

Pickens could, theoretically, be used to bring in another second-round pick this year for the Cowboys to fill the linebacker hole. Part of the benefit of getting Pickens’ signature on the deal is that it opens the opportunity to put Pickens in a tag-and-trade deal.

But team VP Stephen Jones says we can strike that theory down now.

“We have no intention of moving George,” Jones said following Day 1 of the NFL Draft. “We’re fired up about him signing his [tag], because it means he’s ready to come in here and get to work. … We have zero intention of moving [him].”

Cowboys ‘Talking’ About Trades After NFL Draft

Jones did also concede this week that the Cowboys certainly came up short in their attempts to fill the need at linebacker in free agency. His comments appeared to clear the way for an eventual trade.

“We’re talking currently to teams about veteran players that could certainly help us in situations that we weren’t able to necessarily get accomplished in free agency,” Stephen Jones said via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

“I think we did a lot to improve our football team, but we didn’t check every box. Obviously, we have quite a few needs, and we didn’t check every box, but we continue to have those [talks]. Player acquisition is not going to be over after the draft either.”