The Dallas Cowboys will head into free agency with plenty of options available to help strengthen its roster ahead of the 2025 season.
Several players will enter the open market at key positions, including pass rush and wide receiver, where Dallas can use help.
One position that needs focus is off-ball linebacker which is a glaring concern for the Cowboys.
While Marist Liufau showed potential in his rookie season, the team’s depth is severely lacking. Damone Clark saw his role diminish, veteran Eric Kendricks is a free agent, and the explosive DeMarvion Overshown faces a lengthy recovery from a torn knee, leaving a significant void.
CBS Sports’ Jared Dubin in his 2025 NFL free agency matchmaker has the Cowboys signing veteran linebacker Robert Spillane.
If you’re reading this, you have about as much chance of playing linebacker for the Cowboys next season as anybody else. They have Marist Liufau and Damone Clark on hand and that’s basically it, unless Demarvion Overshown makes a miraculous recovery from his devastating, multi-ligament knee injury. They brought in Eric Kendricks on a one-year deal last offseason, but could go for a bit more of a multiyear solution here with Spillane.
– Jared Dubin
Now heading into his eighth year, Spillane spent the past two seasons, 2023 and 2024, with the Las Vegas Raiders, where he enjoyed consecutive breakout years. He recorded a combined 306 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 11 pass deflections, 17 tackles for loss, and five interceptions.
The veteran defender earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors in Week 10 of the 2023 season, during a 16-12 win over the New York Jets. Spillane recorded seven tackles, a sack, and an interception in that game.
During the 2024 season, Spillane recorded career highs in tackles (158), tackles for loss (10), and pass deflections (7).
Before joining the Raiders, Spillane spent four seasons (2019-2022) with the Pittsburgh Steelers and entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Tennessee Titans in 2018.
The 6-foot-1, 229-lb linebacker played college football at Western Michigan between 2014 and 2017 and was a Second-team All-MAC selection in 2016 and 2017.
