I’ve never really been one who likes to write about potential trades during the draft and most of you longtime readers know that. With that said, I can’t help but wonder right now if all the previous smoke concerning the Dallas Cowboys and them potentially trading for Pittsburgh Steelers ILB Patrick Queen might resurface in two weeks during the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
For starters, the Cowboys, at least according to my in-depth research, really seem to need an inside linebacker, a cornerback, and possibly a safety in the earlier rounds of the draft. While they have two first-round draft picks this year, they don’t have a second-round selection, and their lone third-round selection isn’t until 92nd overall.
The Cowboys do currently own the 12th overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft but even so, there’s a good chance that LB Sonny Styles, S Caleb Downs, and CB Mansoor Delane are all taken within the first 11 selections. If, however, one of those three players should fall to the Cowboys at 12th overall, they probably wouldn’t bypass said player.
Recently, there have been some rumblings that the Cowboys might try to trade up from 12th overall to draft one of Styles, Downs, or Delane, and thus it will be interesting to see if such a deal comes to fruition. However, what if the Cowboys can’t trade up to secure one of those three players, and specifically Styles, and then all are selected within the first 11 picks? Should such a scenario ultimately play out, the Cowboys could very well be left in no-man’s land when it comes to positional need and draft position/value.
That very scenario could result in the Cowboys wanting to trade down in the first round and them possibly looking for a deal that includes an experienced linebacker, a first-round pick and possibly another top-100 selection.
Should the Cowboys indeed be in the position of looking to trade down from 12th in hopes of landing an experienced linebacker who fits their scheme, the Steelers could potentially become a swap partner. On paper, the Steelers could be enticed to trade Queen to the Cowboys as part of a deal that would include swapping their own first-round pick and perhaps another top-100 selection of theirs outside of the second round. Remember, the Steelers currently own three selections in the third-round of the draft with their last one in that frame being 99th overall.
Yes, the Steelers have already reportedly paid Queen his $2.5 million roster bonus for 2026 so trading him at this point would result in that money becoming dead, along with his remaining signing bonus proration amount of $3,863,334. Even so, trading Queen would free up $10.83 million in both 2026 salary cap space and cash spending for the Steelers. Moving him would also allow third-year ILB Payton Wilson to become an every-down player.
Should the Cowboys ultimately want to trade for Queen, they would probably do so with the plan of signing him right away to a contract extension. Also, Queen recently changing agents despite him having one year remaining on his contract is a bit curious if you want my honest opinion. Remember, Queen won’t turn 27 years old until right before the 2026 regular season gets underway, so he is attractive as they come when it comes to a team like the Cowboys, who certainly seem to need another veteran inside linebacker.
So, why would the Steelers even want to trade up to 12th overall? Well, my best guess when it comes to answering that question would be so that they could maybe select OG Olaivavega Ioane. While there is a chance that Ioane could still fall to the Steelers at 21st overall, I do wonder if the Penn State product would make it past the Baltimore Ravens at 14th overall. After all, the Ravens could use a blue-chip left guard in this year’s draft to go along with right guard John Simpson.
Obviously, Ioane might not be the only trade-up target for the Steelers. They could also look to move up to take the best remaining wide receiver on the board, possibly even Makai Lemon, after the first 11 selections are made. That said, my money would be on them wanting to move up to draft Ioane.
I would be in favor of the Steelers trading up with the Cowboys to select Ioane and giving Dallas Queen as part of said deal, as long as the package did not include the team’s second-round selection, which is 53rd overall, and any pick in the first three rounds of the 2027 NFL Draft.
Now, there is some minutiae still to look at when it comes to the Cowboys, if indeed they are serious about trading for Queen. Specifically, the Cowboys are currently lacking excessive 2026 salary cap space. Even so, they still might have enough cap space to acquire Queen before turning around and signing him to a contract extension, which in turn should lower his 2026 charge.
I would also imagine that the Steelers would need to grant the Cowboys permission to talk to Queen and his agent ahead of the draft in order to work out a contract extension prior to trading for him. While that’s a lot of meaningful minutiae to work through, it is still plausible with two weeks still remaining before the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft gets underway.
Is there a huge need for the Steelers to trade Queen this offseason? Obviously, the answer is no. However, if the Steelers are hoping to get Wilson on the field more in 2026, keeping Queen would potentially prevent that from happening. Last season, Queen and Wilson were on the field together for 592 regular-season snaps. Wilson, however, still managed to log a total of 700 regular-season snaps in 2026 while Queen logged 1,066 such snaps. If the Steelers don’t believe that Wilson can be an every-down player in 2026 like Queen has been, they obviously shouldn’t trade the latter.
The Steelers could still select an inside linebacker in this year’s draft regardless of what happens with Queen. That’ would probably be a wise idea as this is a deep inside linebacker draft and the Steelers don’t really have much at the position behind Queen and Wilson. Spending a Day 2 or early Day 3 selection on an inside linebacker who has future starting potential would at least help the Steelers offset the jettisoning of Queen.
Assuming Queen is not traded in the next few weeks, it’s hard seeing him signing a contract extension with the Steelers later in the offseason. If that winds up being the case, Queen will likely leave next March via free agency. As far as 2028 compensatory draft pick value goes as the result of Queen potentially leaving next offseason, those types of things are hard to judge this far out.
In closing, there are obviously quite a few hypotheticals included in this post, and normally I stay away from such things. I do believe the hypotheticals I have included in this post are at least very plausible, especially with all the early offseason smoke surrounding the Cowboys and them potentially looking to trade for Queen. Add that Queen recently changed representation, and I think there might be more to the conversation that maybe meets the eye.
In no way am I predicting that Queen will ultimately be traded to the Cowboys during the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, and I obviously don’t think such a deal will happen before the event gets underway in two weeks. That said, if the Cowboys are unable to trade up in the first round to draft one of Styles, Downs, or Delane, and if none of those three players are still on the board at 12th overall, it would make sense for Dallas to trade down and potentially with the Steelers as part of deal that could include Queen.
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