Everybody and their brother knew the assignment this offseason. The Dallas Cowboys had to get better on defense, and at just about every single position, for that matter.
Jerry Jones took that to heart and, finally, went out and made some notable moves for this franchise. Defensively, the Cowboys should be much better than they were a season ago, and again, at all position groups.
When it comes to the linebacker room, specifically, the Cowboys wound up adding a total of seven new faces by way of free agency, the 2026 NFL Draft and the undrafted free agent pool. One of those new additions happened to be a longtime San Francisco 49ers mainstay, Curtis Robinson.
Because of all the additions made at the position, though, Robinson is going to have a difficult time making this Cowboys roster when all is said and done.
Curtis Robinson is going to be an odd man out on the final Cowboys roster
After going undrafted back in 2021, Robinson quickly signed with the Denver Broncos and, after he was ultimately cut later on during the regular season, he signed to the 49ers practice squad.
The rest, as they say, is history. Robinson stuck in San Francisco and wound up being a staple for their special teams. For five seasons, Robinson played at least 49 percent of special teams snaps in San Francisco.
Now, he finds himself on the opposite side of this longstanding rivalry. Although not in the same division, Cowboys fans and 49ers fans know each other well.
Unfortunately for Robinson, he's got an uphill battle to making this roster. First and foremost, the difficulty starts with Robinson being a far later signing than your typical Wave 1 or Wave 2 free agents, as he came into the fold in late April.
The Cowboys made two significant trades at the linebacker position this offseason, dealing for outside linebacker Rashan Gary and inside linebacker Dee Winters. Funny enough, both trades came by way of two conference rivals outside the NFC East, with Winters coming via San Francisco.
Dallas then invested two high draft picks into both Malachi Lawrence and Jaishawn Barham, adding to the outisde and inside linebacker rooms, respectively.
That room, as a whole, still has DeMarvion Overshown, Donovan Ezeruaku, James Houston and Shemar James. There is a pathway for all eight of those names to wind up on this roster, especially with the versatility of some of those outside linebackers being able to rush the passer and put their hand in the dirt.
It would leave Robinson as linebacker no. 9, though. Whether you want to classify the likes of Gary and Lawrence as outside linebackers or defensive ends might just be an argument of preference by the coaching staff. But, they're not going anywhere and, no matter how you shake things out, Robinson is going to find it hard to stick around.
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