Top 10 free agent linebacker targets for Cowboys by skill, salary

Who should the Dallas Cowboys sign this offseason? The new league year begins in just eight days, with the legal tampering window opening on March 9. All 32 NFL clubs have to get under the $301.2 million salary cap by March 11, 4pm eastern, but deals with new players can be negotiated for two days prior.

With so many needs, especially on defense, the Cowboys have spent the last several weeks identifying which prospects fit their plans for 2026, and which ones will give the best bang for the buck in salary. One of the biggest needs Dallas will have is at the off-ball linebacker position. Dallas only has two true players in competition for major snaps at the moment, with DeMarvion Overshown entering the final year of his rookie deal and Shemar James getting ready for his second pro year.

Marst Liufau was recently moved to outside linebacker and will have an edge role in 2026 under new DC Christian Parker. So which free agents should the Cowboys' be looking at?

Here, we've taken the Top 100 rankings from five different outlets (Pro Football Focus, NFL.com, FOX Sports, USA Today and CBS Sports) as of March 1, as well as the projected average annual value (AAV) from Spotrac and PFF, to augment which players best fit the expected Parker defense.

1. Devin Lloyd

Age: 27

2025 PFF Grade: 88.4

Expected AAV: $18 million per year

2. Nakobe Dean

Age: 25

2025 PFF Grade: 62.2

Expected AAV: $10.8 million

3. Leo Chenal

Age: 25

2025 PFF Grade: 75.1

Expected AAV: $5.3 million

4. Devin Bush

Age: 28

2025 PFF Grade: 87.8

Expected AAV: $10.5 million

5. Bobby Wagner

Age: 36

2025 PFF Grade: 79.3

Expected AAV: $8 million

6. Kaden Elliss

Age: 31

2025 PFF Grade: 68.7

Expected AAV: $10.5 million

7. Demario Davis

Age: 37

2025 PFF Grade: 80.3

Expected AAV: $8.75 million

8. Justin Strnad

Age: 30

2025 PFF Grade: 72.1

Expected AAV: $4 million

9. Alex Anzalone

Age: 31

2025 PFF Grade: 67.5

Expected AAV: $7.4 million

10. Quay Walker

Age: 26

2025 PFF Grade: 46.0

Expected AAV: $11.6 milliom

This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Top 10 free agent linebacker targets for Cowboys by skill, salary