The first half of the Dallas Cowboys‘ season has been a disappointment by any measure. Starting at 3-4-1, they have what appears to be a good chance to even their record when they face the struggling 2-5 Arizona Cardinals at AT&T Stadium Monday night.

The Cardinals will not even have their starting quarterback Kyler Murray, who is nursing a foot injury. The Cowboys defense will deal with 32-year-old journeyman backup Jacoby Brisset, playing for his sixth team in the last six years.

The shorthanded Arizona offense may be exactly the right medicine for a Cowboys defense that, more than any other aspect of the team, has been responsible for the team’s mediocre season so far. While the Dallas offense has scored 246 points through eight games, second in the NFL, the defense has given up 250 — second worst in the league.

Dallas Linebacker Corps Suffering

The Dallas defense was obviously going take a hit when owner and de facto general manager shipped three-time All-Pro edge rusher to the Green Bay Packers rather than meet Parsons’ demands for a contract extension. The Dallas linebacker corps has also been without injured 2024 third-round draft pick DeMarvion Overshown, though the 25-year-old out of Texas is expected to make his return against Arizona.

“All in all, the (linebacker) group has looked slow to react and confused all season,” wrote USA Today Cowboys Wire correspondent K.D. Drummond on Sunday.

So it should be no surprise that the Cowboys have been actively pursuing linebacker additions for a trade deadline deal, and according to a new report Saturday by longtime NFL insider Adam Schefter of ESPN, Dallas in exploring a possible trade for one of the more respected players in the game at the position, six-year veteran Logan Wilson of the Cincinnati Bengals.

“Another Cincinnati defensive standout whose name has come up as the deadline approaches is linebacker Logan Wilson, who requested to be traded less than two weeks ago,” Schefter reported. “Teams that have expressed some interest in Wilson are the Bills, Cowboys and Colts, sources told ESPN. Wilson also is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game against the Bears because of a calf injury.”

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Wilson would come with a cap hit of $8.8 million, well within the $31.5 million — second most in the league — the Cowboys have available.

The Bengals are going through struggles of their own. As they have endeavored to build for the future, Wilson — who registered at least 100 tackles every year starting in 2021 — has seen his usage by the team sharply cut back.

After being on they field for at least 97 percent of Cincinnati’s defensive snaps (in games for which he was available) in each of the last three seasons, Wilson has been on the field for only two of every three plays this season.

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His relegation to a lesser role came as a surprise, after the 2020 third-round draft pick out of Wyoming was elected a team captain for the first time in his career, heading into this season.

It did not come as a surprise that Wilson requested a trade — one of three Bengals defenders to do so already in 2025.

The price for Wilson is not clear, but with his reduced snap count and clear disgruntlement with the team that drafted him, a package topped by a fourth-round or even fifth-round pick could get the deal done, accordidng to Bengals Wire analyst Chris Ruling.