Getty Justin March
After some number crunching and roster tinkering, the Dallas Cowboys retained a troika of veteran contributors.
Dallas re-signed linebackers Joe Thomas and Justin March and cornerback CJ Goodwin to the 53-man roster, the team announced Monday.
In corresponding roster moves, the Cowboys officially moved linebacker Sean Lee (sports hernia), right tackle La’el Collins (hip), and wide receiver Ventell Bryant (PCL) to short-term injured reserve, where they’ll miss a minimum of three regular-season games.
Thomas’ release on Sunday was, as the Dallas Morning News put it, “purely procedural” upon the Cowboys claiming WR Malik Turner off waivers from the Green Bay Packers.
Thomas, a 2014 undrafted free agent, is entering his second stint with the silver and blue; he spent his sophomore NFL campaign in the Lone Star State. A reserve ‘backer whose bones are made on special teams, he collected 33 tackles (21 solo) and a pass breakup across 15 games last season.
March, 27, was somewhat surprisingly chopped amid final cuts Saturday. Like Thomas, he’s strictly a defensive depth piece and functions best on the third side of the ball. March, a fifth-year former UDFA, appeared in all 16 games in 2019, logging 12 tackles and one PBU.
The Cowboys are carrying five LBs into their regular-season opener at Los Angeles: Thomas, March, Leighton Vander Esch, Jaylon Smith, and Luke Gifford. Gifford will be a game-time decision for Week 1, club vice president Stephen Jones said Monday.
Goodwin, 30, has been with Dallas since 2018. He wasn’t used much on defense (21 snaps, nine tackles) last year but developed into now-former ST coordinator Keith O’Quinn’s star pupil, entrusted to play 289 snaps — or 65 percent of the total snaps.
He re-joins a varied if slightly banged-up CB corps that includes Jourdan Lewis, Trevon Diggs, Chidobe Awuzie, Anthony Brown, Reggie Robinson, and Daryl Worley. Lewis, battling an ankle injury, is iffy for Sunday against the Rams, while Awuzie is recovering from a knee ailment.
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Carr Added to PS
On Sunday, as expected, the Cowboys reunited with former cornerback Brandon Carr, who signed to the team’s practice squad. Carr spent the previous three seasons in Baltimore after defecting Dallas in 2017.
It’s possible that Carr, capable of playing safety and CB, is elevated to the 53 prior to Sunday’s game, providing insurance for Lewis and starting S Xavier Woods, who tweaked his groin during a recent intrasquad scrimmage.
“Jourdan Lewis and Luke Gifford will be game-time decisions,” Jones said Monday, per The Athletic. “We feel like at the latest (their return) would be (Week 2)…Xavier (Woods) is a question mark as well, but I think he’s even further along. Feel real good about him playing.”
Gifford is slated to start for Lee, so his absence would further hurt the LB unit. The next men up are Thomas and March, though undrafted rookie Francis Bernard — one of the standouts of training camp — waits in the wings on the taxi squad.
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