FRISCO, Texas – On March 9, the NFL's legal tampering period will begin for pending free agents.
The Cowboys will have their fair share of free agents on the roster, which of course they can agree to terms with and sign at any time before that period.
From unrestricted free agents to restricted and exclusive rights free agents, Dallas has a lot of decisions to make over the next month when it comes to how they want to construct their roster for 2026, and even beyond.
With that, we'll examine each pending free agent on the Cowboys' current roster, continuing today with unrestricted free agent Kenneth Murray.
How He Got Here
On March 12, 2025, the Cowboys traded a 2025 sixth-round pick to the Titans for LB Kenneth Murray and a 2025 seventh-round pick. In his one and only season in Tennessee, Murray tallied 95 tackles, eight tackles for loss, an interception and a career high 3.5 sacks. He was a team captain for the Titans and started in all 14 games he played in.
Prior to that, Murray was the 23rd overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Chargers. He spent the first four seasons of his career in Los Angeles, starting in 53 games and tallying 321 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, five sacks and two interceptions before departing to Tennessee in 2024.
What He Did in 2025
Murray started 16 games for Dallas in 2025, finishing second on the team in tackles with 81 behind rookie fifth-round pick Shemar James, who had 91. Murray also added four tackles for loss, two pass breakups, a sack and a fumble recovery.
The linebacker core as a whole struggled throughout the course of the season. In looking to help improve the room, the Cowboys acquired Bengals LB Logan Wilson at the NFL's trade deadline, but the unit still struggled with Murray serving most of the season as the team's middle linebacker.
Why He Could Stay
When Murray arrived in Dallas last offseason, he said he was "looking to be the dude, the guy in the middle running everything." Murray had some middle linebacker/green dot experience in the past, but there's an argument that could be made Murray may have played better in a different role, like a SAM linebacker.
The biggest question of Murray staying comes down to whether or not new defensive coordinator Christian Parker has a vision for him in a different role in the defense, as the 2025 season showed Murray playing in the middle spot of the defense may not have been the best for him nor the Cowboys. If he does stay, it would likely mean a new position with different responsibilities.
Why He Could Leave
On multiple occasions over the course of the year, the Cowboys made it clear that the linebacker play from a season ago was not good enough. In October, Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones said this after Dallas' loss to the Denver Broncos:
"We need to basically have better play from the linebackers maintaining the integrity of your gaps, which the linebackers have to fill. The linebackers have to slide, and so they did a good job on us, Denver, the other day and we did a poor job, so we've got to do better there."
In the team's end of season press conference, Cowboys COO/co-owner Stephen Jones said "certainly we could use some help there at linebacker" when asked about positions of need for Dallas' defense. That could mean the Cowboys are looking for a nearly brand-new room in 2026.
