The Chicago Bears’ reacquisition of linebacker Jack Sanborn is more than a simple depth signing—it’s the latest, glaring symptom of a Dallas Cowboys defense in full reverse after a catastrophic 2025 season, exposing a roster rebuild that has already lost Micah Parsons and now sees its entire linebacker corps from last year dismantled.
The first domino has fallen. On Wednesday, the Chicago Bears announced the return of Jack Sanborn, the linebacker they originally signed as an undrafted free agent in 2022, on a new one-year deal. The move, celebrated with the Bears’ social media team tweeting “The Sandman returns 😤,” directly follows Sanborn’s lone, injury-shortened season with the Dallas Cowboys and immediately raises a stark question: What in the world is happening with the Cowboys’ defense?
To understand the significance of this move, you must first understand the context of the Dallas Cowboys’ 2025 collapse. After a 7-9-1 finish and missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year under first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer, the failure was centered on a historically poor defense. According to league statistics cited in the original reporting, the Cowboys allowed 251.5 passing yards per game and 30.1 points per game—both figures ranked dead last in the NFL Athlon Sports. This defensive abomination led to the dismissal of coordinator Matt Eberflus, who was replaced by former Philadelphia Eagles defensive backs coach Christian Parker. Yet, before Parker could even install his schemes, his roster is being stripped clean.
Sanborn’s trajectory is a story of resilience and misfortune. After a four-year career at Wisconsin, he went undrafted in 2022. His path to relevance began with the Bears, who signed him as an undrafted free agent. He earned a roster spot as a rookie and eventually a starting role in Chicago before being relegated to the bench in 2024. Seeking a fresh start and a starting job, he signed a one-year free-agent deal with Dallas for 2025.
The opportunity was real. In just six games for the Cowboys, Sanborn was productive, recording 34 tackles, a tackle for loss, and a pass deflection. This wasn’t a backup filling in; this was a player seizing a role. Then, the injury bug struck. A groin injury ended his season prematurely, landing him on injured reserve in early November. His year, and his chance to solidify his future in Dallas, evaporated.
With his contract now expired, Sanborn entered the unrestricted free agent market. The decision was clear: return to the organization that first gave him a chance, the Chicago Bears. And Dallas? They are now without two of their linebackers from the 2025 roster. Beyond Sanborn’s departure, the team has also released Logan Wilson, the veteran inside linebacker amid other roster moves following the season’s end.
This isn’t just about one player. This is about a pattern. The Cowboys’ defensive reconstruction has been relentless and, thus far, directionless. The most seismic move was trading All-Pro defensive end Micah Parsons, a cornerstone pass rusher whose departure was widely cited as a key factor in the defense’s statistical freefall. Now, the linebacker corps, already a liability, has been entirely gutted. Sanborn’s brief, injury-interrupted stint is now a footnote; the Cowboys are searching for answers at a position group that was already a weakness and is now a gaping hole.
The Immediate Ripple: What This Means for Chicago
For the Chicago Bears, this is a low-risk, high-reward flyer with significant potential upside. They are re-acquiring a player familiar with their system, a teammate of many current defenders, and someone who showed before his injury that he could be a reliable, tackler in the box. At 26, Sanborn’s career is far from over, and returning to a familiar environment without the pressure of earning a starting job from scratch could see him finally stay healthy and contribute meaningfully to a Bears defense that is being retooled under a new defensive coordinator.
The “Sandman” moniker, born from his Wisconsin days, carries with it an identity of hard-nosed, steady play. The Bears’ front office and coaching staff clearly believe that version of Sanborn still exists and can be unlocked. He fills a positional need for depth and potential special teams contribution immediately.
The Bigger Picture: Dallas’s Defensive Identity Crisis
This move crystallizes the extent of the Cowboys’ defensive crisis. It’s one thing to cut or trade underperforming veterans; it’s another to see a player like Sanborn, who showed flashes in limited action, elect to leave a starting opportunity precisely because the project around him is so flawed. The signal sent to the remaining free-agent market is damning: even a starting job in Dallas is not a desirable destination if the entire unit is in flux and performing at a league-worst level.
The Cowboys’ path forward is daunting. They hired Christian Parker to fix a defense that was last in points and passing yards allowed. But his toolbox is being emptied before he can even begin. Replacing the production and leadership of a Micah Parsons is a multi-year challenge. Now, they must simultaneously replace multiple linebackers. The timeline for a defensive turnaround in Dallas just got significantly longer and more expensive.
Fan Fears and Front Office Futures
For Cowboys fans, this is another chapter in a frustrating offseason narrative. The trading of Parsons was baffling enough to many. Now, seeing a young, controllable player like Sanborn—even one coming off an injury—choose a return to a rival over staying in Dallas speaks volumes about the perceived dysfunction. The fan-driven theory that the Cowboys are undergoing a full-scale teardown, rather than a retool, is gaining strength with each departure.
The pressure on Jerry Jones and the front office to finally solve the defensive puzzle is now at a boiling point. A 7-9-1 record is unacceptable for a franchise with Super Bowl aspirations. Allowing the entire linebacker corps to walk or be released without clear, high-caliber replacements in place suggests a profound miscalculation in personnel evaluation or a catastrophic cap situation—or both.
In the hyper-competitive NFC, the window for a team with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb is not infinite. The decision to part with Parsons and now the full dismantling of the second level of the defense risks wasting the prime of their franchise quarterback. Jack Sanborn’s choice to wear the Bears’ blue and orange again is a tiny, personal victory for him. For the Dallas Cowboys, it’s another loud alarm bell ringing in an empty fortress of a defense. The story is no longer about who they’ve lost; it’s about the complete absence of a plan to replace them.
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