Cowboys Eyed as a Top Team for Speedy Former $20 Million 42-Game Starter
The Dallas Cowboys revamped the team’s defense in several last-minute deals at the NFL trade deadline. Dallas could also look to veteran free agents to add even more depth to the unit. Dallas has just a 4% chance to make the NFL playoffs heading into the team’s Week 11 primetime matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, per The Athletic.
This did not stop owner Jerry Jones from making significant moves at the NFL deadline, including acquiring star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox identified the top available free agents and each player’s best landing spot. The analyst is pushing the Cowboys as well as the Baltimore Ravens to make a run at former top-10 pick Isaiah Simmons.
“Isaiah Simmons was a first-round pick in the 2020 draft, but he has struggled to find a true position in the NFL,” Knox wrote in a November 7, 2025, story titled, “Best Team Fits for Top 10 Bargain Free Agents After Trade Deadline.” “A hybrid defender at Clemson, NFL teams have tried him at both linebacker and safety but have never seen truly impressive results at either position.
“The Green Bay Packers gave Simmons a shot this offseason, but he was released in late August and failed to sign with a practice squad. … Simmons would be a logical gamble for a team that regularly uses multiple safeties in a rotation or for one that could use an athletic run defender at the second level.”
Potential Cowboys Target Isaiah Simmons Is a Former Top-10 Pick in the 2020 NFL Draft
After a standout college football career at Clemson, Simmons was selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. Simmons inked a four-year, $20.6 million rookie contract with the Cardinals.
The defender also had a short stint with the New York Giants. Most recently, Simmons signed with the Green Bay Packers, but the linebacker was unable to make the final roster and was released ahead of Week 1.
Simmons’ NFL career did not quite live up to the hype as teams struggled to know exactly where to play the versatile defender. The former highly touted prospect spent time at both linebacker and safety. It just so happens Dallas could use help at both positions.
Isaiah Simmons Started 42 Games With the Cardinals & Giants
During his five NFL seasons, Simmons started 42 games for the Cardinals and Giants. Simmons’ best statistical season came in 2022 when the veteran posted 99 tackles, four sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions in 17 appearances for the Cardinals, including 13 starts.
The defender notched an impressive 4.39-second time in the 40-yard dash ahead of the 2020 draft. Additionally, the 6-foot-4, 238-pound defender posted a 39″ vertical. Heading into the draft, analyst Matt Miller (now with ESPN) described Simmons as a “unicorn.”
“Simmons is a true unicorn as a prospect,” Miller wrote for Bleacher Report in April 2020. “Evaluators are stumped on who to compare him to or even what his ceiling will be.
“A smart defensive coordinator will simply look at the matchup each week and let Simmons erase the opposing offense’s biggest threat. He’s a rare game-changer at the linebacker position and should be allowed to play multiple roles and alignments within a single game. If Simmons doesn’t succeed in the NFL, it will be one of the biggest surprises of the 2020 draft class.”
49ers sorely miss ex-linebacker who is now thriving with the Giants
The San Francisco 49ers have had a ton of injuries at linebacker this season. With the depth chart getting thinner and thinner, the Niners must be wishing they still had Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles who is thriving with the New York Giants.
Obviously, the biggest loss for the 49ers this season was losing star linebacker Fred Warner. He does so much for San Francisco on defense that it truly seemed questionable whether the Niners would be able to stop anyone without him.
Thankfully, Tatum Bethune has filled in very nicely at middle linebacker. But, of course, he went down with an ankle injury on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. He won't land on injured reserve, but he'll likely miss at least a couple of weeks, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.
Curtis Robinson had to fill in for Bethune, but then Dee Winters had to step into the middle linebacker role after Robinson got injured as well. Winters was a little banged up, too, and at one point, the 49ers had to roll with a linebacker duo of rookie Nick Martin, who has hardly played at all, and Luke Gifford who is typically a special teams player.
They had to dig deep into the depth chart, and the 49ers must have at least some regret that they released Flannigan-Fowles earlier this year.
After five seasons with the Niners in which Flannigan-Fowles was mostly a backup linebacker and special teams player, he has now been thrust into a starting role with New York and looks like he could be a diamond in the rough for the Giants.
The 29-year-old veteran out of the University of Arizona has 21 tackles this season, 16 of them are solo tackles which is the highest mark of his career. He also has two tackles for loss and one quarterback hit on the year.
It seems he is finally getting a chance to prove himself after spending so long as a backup, and he is taking full advantage of his opportunity.
At this point in the season, the 49ers do not have many options to add depth at linebacker. The trade deadline has passed, and most players who are going to play this year have already signed with teams, so the Niners may have to elevate players from their own practice squad to try to make things work.
They need to maintain that next-man-up mentality and not dwell on the past or their bad injury luck, but they must wish they had held onto Flannigan-Fowles, given his solid play and their injury struggles.
