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Cowboys Trade Move: Dee Winters Could Contribute in Major Way After 49ers Breakout
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- Cowboys Trade Move: Dee Winters Could Contribute in Major Way After 49ers Breakout
The Dallas Cowboys made several moves to overhaul a defense that struggled mightily throughout the 2025 season, but one of their most intriguing additions may be a player many fans around the league still don't know much about.
In a recent article by Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport, he outlines who he thinks are some of the "under-the-radar" guys who could have a big role in 2026. For the Cowboys, he thinks that player is newly acquired linebacker Dee Winters.
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America's Team made a trade on draft day with the San Francisco 49ers to acquire Winters for a fifth-round pick, and they might be very glad they made the move.
"Winters isn't an elite talent, but he was a steady producer for the 49ers last year," Davenport writes . "He also provides some badly needed stability for a Cowboys linebacker corps that was something of a carousel last year."
The 25-year-old linebacker arrives in Dallas after the best season of his professional career, but is still being overlooked by a lot of people.
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The former TCU standout stepped into a starting role with the 49ers in 2025 after a season-ending injury to superstar Fred Warner, and he responded in a big way.
He finished the year with 101 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, five pass breakups, and a memorable pick six off of veteran QB Phillip Rivers when he briefly came out of retirement. He is hoping that he can build on this past season and prove that it was no fluke.
That development is exactly what the Cowboys are counting on. Dallas completely reshaped its defense this offseason, adding talent at every level while also transitioning to Parker's new scheme. Winters' combination of speed, range, and coverage ability makes him an ideal fit for a defense that will ask its linebackers to do much more than simply stop the run.
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If Winters builds on what he accomplished in San Francisco, the Cowboys may have landed one of the biggest steals of the offseason. While bigger names often dominate headlines, Dallas is hoping Winters becomes the type of "under-the-radar" contributor who helps transform an entire defense in 2026.
