If it wasn’t obvious, injury-prone Dallas Cowboys inside linebacker DeMarvion Overshown was cooked after 3 seasons mostly watching from the sidelines… last week’s season-opening loss to the New York Giants made it clear.
Overshown, to recap, started the game flagged for a late hit out of bounds on Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart, got run over by Giants running back Cam Skattebo, then capped things off by leaving the game with a hamstring injury.
“DeMarvion Overshown was very emotional on the sidelines after getting injured,” SM Highlights wrote on its official X account on Sunday.
The Cowboys have waited long enough for Overshown to show he can stay healthy and be a competent inside linebacker. When his 4-year, $5.39 million rookie contract runs out after the 2026 season, it needs to be the end of his time in Dallas.
Overshown, simply put, isn’t a reliable player to have a future with, and the Cowboys should stop entertaining the idea that he could be that guy.
“Cowboys LB DeMarvion Overshown’s injury history: 2023: Left ACL — missed rookie season, 2024: Right ACL/MCL/PCL in Week 14, 2025: Missed the first nine games of the season, 2026: Hamstring strain in Week 1 — status TBD,” Sleeper Cowboys wrote on its official X account.
Overshown Playing for Job Security in 2026
The Athletic’s Jon Machota singled out Overshown as the player on the Dallas roster with the “most on the line” in 2026.
“Three players immediately come to mind: Overshown, LT Tyler Guyton and WR George Pickens,” Machota wrote. “Overshown gets the nod because he’s in the final year of his rookie contract. Guyton will likely have another season in Dallas even if this one doesn’t go well. Pickens is likely getting paid well by the Cowboys or another team in free agency next year. Overshown doesn’t have that type of job security. When healthy, he’s easily Dallas’ best linebacker. But significant knee injuries have caused him to miss 32 games over the last three seasons. A strong, full season likely leads to a quality new deal. But if he’s unable to stay on the field, Overshown could be left with underwhelming contract offers.”
Does DeMarvion Overshown Still Have Elite Upside?
The assumption about Overshown after 3 seasons, as bad as it sounds, that the longer he stays on the field, the more likely it is he’s going to get hurt.
Overshown, for all his talent, has been missing for almost the entirety of his 1st 3 NFL seasons due to injuries — a pair of catastrophic knee injuries that have cost him 32 out of a possible 51 regular-season games.
Still, what fans did get to see in the 1 sort-of full season Overshown got to play in 2024 has been enough to keep expectations for him sky-high, and CBS Sports NFL reporter Zach Pereles tabbed him as the most likely “Breakout Candidate” for the Cowboys in 2026.
“Amid a dismal 2024 season for Dallas, DeMarvion Overshown was a bright spot, registering 90 tackles, eight tackles for loss, five sacks, and a pick-six in just 13 games,” Pereles wrote in June. “The third-round pick from 2023 looked to be coming into his own and then some after missing all of his rookie year with a torn ACL. Then he suffered another brutal injury — torn ACL, MCL and PCL — near the end of the year. He returned for six games last year. Perhaps the injuries have taken too much of a toll, but a year-plus removed from the injury, he can be the athletic, talented playmaker the Cowboys desperately need at linebacker.”
Dallas Cowboys Urged to Part Ways With Injury-Prone Defender