Cowboys’ DeMarvion Overshown on contract year: ‘People haven’t seen my best yet’
Heading into his fourth season in the NFL, Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown is simply grateful to just take part in offseason activities in 2026.
After tearing his ACL in his rookie preseason and tearing his ACL and MCL late in his second season that put him out for all the 2025 offseason, Overshown is finally at 100-percent health during the team’s offseason work which has allowed him to take on a bigger role in on-the-field work with new defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s new scheme.
“It’s been the biggest blessing I can ask for,” Overshown said. “Everybody knows that when I’m healthy, I’m one of the best linebackers in the league. Not to toot my own horn, but the film and stats speak for itself ... I feel like people haven’t seen my best yet. This is going to be one of my best years.”
Now out of the knee brace for what feels like the first time since he suffered that first knee injury in August 2023, Overshown is excited about his new role in Parker’s new defense. While he did voice some frustration about how he was used in 2025, that misguided usage seems to be correcting itself going into Overshown’s fourth year.
“I get to showcase what I do best,” he said. “I’m not just parked somewhere expecting to make a play on the other side of the field. There’s some stuff schemed up to where I am in the [run] fits on every play. I love football, and I love being a part of the play. I’m excited about the role I got.”
Even though Overshown has remained in place, the linebacker room has seen a sizable makeover this offseason around him. Kenneth Murray and Jack Sanborn are gone, and Dee Winters and rookie Jaishawn Barham have been brought in. As the room builds its new identity under new linebackers coach Scott Symons, Overshown has been a big part of the new face the position group is taking on.
“It’s been fun,” he said. “You’re excited for football already when you’re in the meeting room, and you’re going through certain stuff on the field. You see the scheme playing out in real-life time. It’s going to help us win a Super Bowl. How he goes into calls, how he goes into depth. The reasons why we do everything from 1-to-11.”
“We made sure that linebacker room was going to have energy, have leadership day-in and day-out. We have a standard that we hold ourselves to, and we want to be the best unit on the team. In order to do that, you have to have energy. In the meeting room, people have to want to be there, to want to learn, to want to get better and run this defense.”
With Winters specifically, Overshown is looking forward to playing alongside a guy he got to know well during the draft process back in 2023. While Winters went to TCU and Overshown went to Texas, putting interstate rivalries aside for a role in the Cowboys’ linebacker corps has been a smooth transition.
“Run and hit,” Overshown said about Winters. “I’m going to have me a partner to race to the ball with. I’ve watched his film, he’s a run-and-hit guy like me. He’s smart. He came in and accepted his role with what he’s going to do.”
It’s been an up-and-down first three seasons for Overshown. After battling back from two major injuries and a role in 2025 that didn’t allow him to succeed at his max potential, he’s putting it all behind him for a role in 2026 that can put him in a favorable spot when his contract is up next offseason. While Overshown did recently hire super-agent David Mulugheta to represent that next deal, he isn’t putting a lot of focus on what that will look like until the season is over.
“Contract year or not, I’m going to come out here and play my best,” Overshown said. “I’m going to ball regardless. That’s for other people to figure out. I’m going to do my part and go ball for 17-plus [games]. The money will take care of itself.”
