The Cowboys’ Week 10 meeting with the 49ers is more than just another Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium. For Jerry Jones, it’s a built-in audit of two offseason trades with San Francisco - one that sent Osa Odighizuwa west and another that brought Dee Winters to Dallas.
Jones has never been shy about making moves, and this spring he and 49ers general manager John Lynch pulled off a pair of deals that looked fair enough at the time. Now the rematch offers a clean way to see how those swaps are aging.
Odighizuwa’s departure came after Dallas signed him to a four-year, $80 million extension in March of 2024, then flipped him to San Francisco in March of 2025. The Cowboys were dealing with a tight financial picture, and with Odighizuwa not living up to the deal while Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams arrived, he became movable. Dallas did land a third-round pick in return, and that pick became Jaishawn Barham.
That return looked strong early in the season, but Barham has been benched in recent weeks, which has taken some shine off the deal before the 49ers even show up. If Odighizuwa makes noise against Dallas, especially after the Cowboys’ guards had trouble up front last week against the Indianapolis Colts, it could leave Jones with some regret. He’s still the same player, though: a solid pass-rusher who doesn’t hold up well against the run.
Dallas isn’t exactly thin at defensive tackle, either. With Williams, Clark, Elijah Garcia, Otito Ogbonnia and LT Overton in the mix, the Cowboys have plenty of bodies there. But former players making a statement against their old team always stings, and Odighizuwa doing it while Barham’s role has faded would only add to the noise.
The other trade brought Winters to Dallas on Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft, with the Cowboys sending a fifth-round pick to San Francisco. The idea was straightforward: shore up the linebacker room with Barham and Winters and give Christian Parker more help. On paper, it made sense.
In practice, it hasn’t fully clicked.
Barham and Winters have both flashed at times, but neither has taken control of the middle of the defense. Winters has played more and has looked better in recent weeks than he did early in the year, but the overall body of work is still shaky. He’s had trouble in coverage all season outside of a big interception against the Green Bay Packers, and he has missed 13.6 percent of his tackles.
The absence of DeMarvion Overshown next to him has made things tougher, though Shemar James has stepped in and played well enough. Still, if Winters has another rough outing against San Francisco’s passing game, and especially with George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey looming as major assignments, Dallas will have a hard time feeling good about giving up that fifth-rounder.
The ideal outcome for the Cowboys is simple: Barham and Winters play well, Odighizuwa gets bottled up by the Tylers up front, and Jones walks away feeling like he got the better of Lynch no matter what the scoreboard says. If that doesn’t happen, the pressure in Dallas will only grow louder.
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