Cowboys' Winters aiming to make Texas homecoming a career year

Dee Winters. Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

New Cowboys LB Dee Winters aiming to make Texas homecoming a career year

By Clark Dalton | Last updated Apr 30, 2026 2:05 PM ET

New Dallas Cowboys linebacker Dee Winters is happy he won't have a long commute to home games this upcoming season.

Winters was moving into a new house in Arlington, Texas — home of AT&T Stadium, where the Cowboys play their home games — when he received the call that the San Francisco 49ers had traded him. How serendipitous.

LB Dee Winters discusses trade to Cowboys

"Honestly, I wasn't expecting it all," Texas native Winters said Thursday, via The Athletic's Jon Machota. "Everything happens for a reason. I'm excited to be back home, and I get to play for the Dallas Cowboys."

The Cowboys are also glad the former TCU Horned Frogs star is returning to the Lone Star State. He's expected to play middle LB for new defensive coordinator Christian Parker, who's aiming to refurbish one of the worst defenses in the NFL.

New Cowboys LB Dee Winters on getting traded from the 49ers during the draft last weekend: "Honestly, I wasn't expecting it at all. I was surprised quite a bit. Everything happens for a reason. I'm excited to be back home and I get to play for the Dallas Cowboys."

Winters isn't…
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) April 30, 2026

Last season, the Cowboys ranked last in the league in points allowed (30.1 points per game) and 30th in yards surrendered (377 yards per game). Unsurprisingly, some of the problems stemmed from poor tackling. Pro Football Reference credited Dallas with 112 missed tackles last season, tied for the eighth most in the league.

Missed tackles aren't a problem for Winters. Per PFR, he posted an 11.4 percent missed tackle rate (13 missed tackles) in 2025, No. 107 among 488 players. He finished with 67 solo tackles in 17 games, tied for 16th in the league.

Winters, a 2023 sixth-round pick, is entering the final year of his rookie contract, giving him even more incentive to perform in his home state.

"It's very big," Winters said of being on the last year of his contract, per Machota. "This is where you help your family and your football career. I think this is a huge year for me. I'm excited to work in this scheme, be in space and make plays that's the biggest thing."

If Winters makes the most of his Texas homecoming, he could parlay that into a contract extension with the Cowboys. He then wouldn't have to worry about moving for a while.

Clark Dalton

Clark Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking and camping.

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