Back in the offseason, when the San Francisco 49ers brought back linebacker Dre Greenlaw, it seemed pretty clear that Dee Winters was expendable. The Niners ended up trading him to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a fifth-round pick, and so far, it looks like the Niners cut bait on him for the right reasons.
Winters had a rough game in Week 1 against the New York Giants. John Harbaugh’s G-Men went after Dallas’ linebackers all game and attacked Winters in coverage, which is smart since that isn’t his strong suit.
It resulted in a win for the Giants, and Cowboys fans are already concerned about Winters.
Cowboys just learned a hard lesson about Dee Winters
This reaction was telling:
I thought Dee Winters had the roughest go among the DAL LBs vs NYG. Too complacent taking on blocks, failed to fall back with post-snap motion multiple times, not on the same page with DBs in coverage multiple times. Missed a tackle. Forgettable debut. #Cowboys.
— John Owning (@JohnOwning) September 14, 2026
His struggles don’t come as a huge shock to the 49ers. While Winters did some positive things last season with San Francisco, such as a pick-six and some big hits that could even be somewhat reminiscent of Greenlaw, the Niners knew they could upgrade and when Greenlaw became available; the chance of reuniting him with Fred Warner was just too good to pass up.
It’s just one game, and maybe the Cowboys and Winters will adjust and get better going forward but it’s not a great first impression. Now, the Giants have given the rest of Dallas’ opponents a blueprint on how to attack Winters and the entirety of that defense as a whole.
49ers are easily the early winners of both trades with Cowboys
San Francisco ended up flipping the pick it got from Dallas for more picks from the Cleveland Browns, but the 49ers seem to have pulled a fast one on the Cowboys in another offseason trade that landed defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa.
The Niners got him in exchange for a third-round pick, and he already made an impact on the defensive line in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams. San Francisco has so many question marks on the D-line that it’s scary to imagine what things would look like if it hadn’t acquired Odighizuwa.
It obviously wasn’t a straight up Winters-for-Odighizuwa trade, but it sort of feels that way. If Winters continues to disappoint Cowboys fans, while Odighizuwa continues to impress 49ers fans, then those two trades will look absolutely brilliant.
They already look pretty darn good from San Francisco's perspective.
The Cowboys and 49ers will square off in Week 10, so that may be a true test of how each trade looks at that time.
But it certainly seems like the Niners wisely cut bait on Winters at the perfect time and stole a solid player from the Cowboys all in the same offseason.
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