One of the Cowboys’ more unheralded free-agent signings could end up being one of their biggest assets on defense.
After failing to make any sort of splash in the offseason a year ago, the Dallas Cowboys have certainly made much more noise in 2025, acquiring several players via trade while also adding many more in free agency.
Now, has every move Jerry Jones has made over the past few months been a home run? Certainly not. But from an overall standpoint, fans of America’s Team should feel pretty positive about the improvements that have been made to this roster.
One of the more unheralded free agents brought to Big D was linebacker Jack Sanborn, who went undrafted out of Wisconsin in 2022 but was picked up in free agency by the Chicago Bears and appeared in 48 games for the Monsters of the Midway over the past three years.
Chicago’s head coach for most of Sanborn’s run in the Windy City, of course, was Matt Eberflus, who’s now the defensive coordinator in Dallas. And according to Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder, the fact that the Illinois native knows exactly what he’s getting with Eberflus’ scheme makes him the Cowboys’ “best-kept secret.”
“Sanborn only made 19 starts during his three years with the Bears, which is a big reason the Cowboys were able to sign him for a cheap one-year, $1.5 million contract in free agency,” Holder wrote. “But the Wisconsin product projects to have a much bigger role in Dallas this season.”
Jack Sanborn can help the Cowboys with their biggest weakness
Holder could certainly be correct in his assessment that Sanborn will have a bigger role in Dallas than he did in Chicago. Well, at least bigger than what we had a season ago, when he saw his snaps diminish significantly, going from 412 in 2023 to 235 in 2024.
He’ll have some competition, of course, but the reason he will see the field more is because his biggest asset is his strength against the run, which just happens to be one of the Cowboys’ biggest weaknesses.
Sanborn has earned highly respectable PFF grades of 71.1 and 71.5 in the last two years in that department and added a solid 70.1 pass-rush grade a season ago, ranking 33rd among all NFL linebackers.
Now, can he truly replace someone like Eric Kendricks? Probably not.
That said, however, Kendricks had one of his best overall campaigns in years in his lone season in Dallas last year, perhaps due to the relationship he had with defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, who was his head coach with the Minnesota Vikings for several seasons.
So, perhaps Sanborn and Eberflus can bring a little of that same magic.