It's extremely difficult to lose a trade when all you give up to acquire a solid veteran linebacker is a seventh-round draft pick, but lo and behold, the Dallas Cowboys have managed to pull it off.
The linebacker in question, of course, is Logan Wilson, whom Dallas acquired from the Cincinnati Bengals just ahead of the trade deadline in early November. And here we are in late December, and the 29-year-old has already fallen out of favor with Dallas defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, so much so that he took exactly zero snaps in the Cowboys' Christmas Day victory over the Washington Commanders.
Now, has Wilson made a huge impact since coming over from the Bengals. No, he hasn't. But he also hasn't been given much of an opportunity, as he's only taken more than 30 snaps once while wearing a Cowboys uniform, and that was in his first game with the team in Week 11 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Kenneth Murray Jr., meanwhile, whose 40.1 overall PFF grade ranks 82nd among 87 eligible linebackers, continues to get 40-plus snaps per game and literally took every single defensive snap against the Commanders.
Cowboys executive vice president and CEO Stephen Jones attempted to chalk Wilson's lack of playing time up to "confusion," but he clearly wasn't thrilled with what transpired.
"That was unfortunate with Logan," Jones told 105.3 The Fan. "They didn't have many snaps throughout the game, much less obviously in the first half. I will say it was, I wouldn't call it a mistake, but some confusion in terms of how that rotation was supposed to go with [LBs coach Dave] Borgonzi. It certainly wasn't the intent for him not to play a snap, but sometimes the game with not many snaps on one particular side of the ball, things can not go according to plan. I'm sure Schotty will address that as well."
Matt Eberflus' Logan Wilson debacle could seal his fate as Cowboys DC
Borgonzi unfortunately got called out there, but the real responsibility falls on Eberflus, who could have easily told his linebackers coach after a series or two to get Wilson in the game.
Perhaps Eberflus is well aware that he could be looking for a new job after Sunday's season finale and simply wanted to make a point. What that point might be is anyone's guess, but that could be said about a lot of defensive decisions he's made throughout the season.
And Stephen certainly wasn't the only Jones who wasn't thrilled with how things played out, as Jerry Jones had plenty to say on the matter as well.
"I don’t have an explanation for you for why Wilson wasn’t in there," Jones said this past Friday. "We planned to have him in there. He needs to be in there. He has good instincts. The reason we got him was because he reads the play quick and can basically be in his lane of responsibility and react quick. It’s critical that a linebacker have quick reacting (ability). He’s able to do that. That’s why we got him."
It'll certainly be interesting to see if Wilson takes the field against the Giants on Sunday. But even if he does, those could be his final snaps with the Cowboys, as the team has an out on his contract (which has remaining years) this offseason that would cost them nothing in dead cap money. So, we'll just have to wait and see what happens there.
As for Eberflus, we likely won't have to wait long to see what his future holds, as he seems good as gone, perhaps even as early as Monday morning.