The Dallas Cowboys entered their Week 7 Monday Night Football game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a playoff-game mindset—an approach that led to a 38-21 win and snapped a 2-game losing streak.
Sitting at 3-4 with two winnable games against the Arizona Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts before the November 10 NFL trade deadline, Dallas is going to be aggressive in pursuing trades that could improve its much-maligned defense.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler named the Cowboys as the “Top Trade Fit” for a player who could make that difference: Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebacker Patrick Queen, an NFL All-Pro and 2-time Pro Bowler.
“Rumors of a Queen trade persisted in the spring, with the Cowboys among teams that checked on his availability,” Fowler wrote on October 28. “He’s also a 2027 free agent. But the Steelers’ status as a 5-2 team likely keeps him in Pittsburgh.”
Queen is in the final season of the 3-year, $41 million contract he signed with the Steelers before the 2024 season.
“Queen is a run-and-hit defender with lateral pursuit speed,” ESPN’s Matt Bowen wrote. “He can track the ball on the perimeter and close quickly on underneath throws as a zone defender. Queen struggles at times as a run defender in tight quarters, and his route identification can improve, but he has had at least 115 tackles in each of his four previous seasons. And he has 26 pass breakups over the past five years.”
Superstar LB on College Football’s Greatest Team
Queen was the defensive star on arguably the greatest college football team of all time — the undefeated 2019 LSU Tigers alongside fellow future NFL stars like Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson, and Ja’Marr Chase.
Queen was one of seven eventual 1st-round picks on that LSU team, going No. 28 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft to the Baltimore Ravens.
Throughout his career, it’s hard to categorize Queen as anything but utterly dominant — and one of the most durable defensive players in NFL history. Since his three seasons at LSU beginning in 2017, Queen has played 155 consecutive games, including 115 NFL regular-season and playoff games with 114 starts.
Cowboys Don’t Have Great Options at Inside LB
The Cowboys don’t have great options at inside linebacker right now because the best of that bunch, DeMarvion Overshown, is so injury-prone.
When he’s on the field, like he was in the win over the Eagles, Overshown can be dominant, as he showed with 6 tackles, 2 pass deflections, 1 TFL, and the game-winning interception.
The problem is that he’s hardly ever available. Over his first four seasons, Overshown played in just 21 of 58 possible regular-season games due to injuries, including only two of seven games so far in 2026.
Dallas Cowboys Named Top Landing Spot for $41 Million All-Pro LB