Getty Chris Lacy
Rather than shore up a roster weakness, the Dallas Cowboys are looking to strengthen a strength.
Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News reported Friday the Cowboys scheduled a free-agent visit next week with wide receiver Chris Lacy, “a candidate to join their practice squad.”
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Lacy broke into the NFL as a 2018 undrafted free agent, initially latching on with the New England Patriots, who waived him that May. He was claimed off waivers by the Detroit Lions shortly after, spending much of his rookie campaign on their taxi squad before being elevated to the active roster.
Lacy (6-3, 205) appeared in eight games, making two starts, and caught three passes for 60 yards for Detroit from 2018-19, bouncing between the practice team and 53-man roster. He was waived and re-signed this past August, and then released again last month.
The 24-year-old Texas native played collegiately at Oklahoma State, where he collected 63 receptions for 920 yards and five touchdowns over 32 career games.
” … Lacy seemed to make plays almost every practice during the open spring workouts,” ESPN Lions reporter Michael Rothstein wrote in June 2019. “It might be a tough way to a roster spot for the second-year pro out of Oklahoma State, but he has a size/speed component that most of Detroit’s receivers don’t.”
Lacy clocked a 4.51 in the forty-yard yard dash, reaching a maximum speed of 18.14 miles per hour, and registered a 33.5-inch vertical jump at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine.
Role in Dallas
Lacy’s potential addition is not an indictment on the Cowboys’ Big Three WRs (Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, CeeDee Lamb). It seems the team just prefers stacking pass-catchers; Lacy would be the third wideout on the practice squad, joining Aaron Parker and Jon’Vea Johnson.
Perhaps he could see some regular-season action if an injury struck the depth chart, either to the aforementioned trio or WR4 Cedrick Wilson and WR5 Noah Brown, respectively. The likelier scenario is Lacy sticking around until season’s end and possibly earning a reserve/futures deal for 2021.
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Cowboys Reportedly Acquire Ex-UDFA DT
According to media reports, the Cowboys on Friday agreed to trade a 2021 seventh-round pick to the Houston Texans in exchange for defensive tackle Eli Ankou. The team has yet to announce the deal nor its terms, which cannot become official until Monday, one day before the NFL trade deadline.
Ankou, 26, entered the league in 2017 as a UDFA, originally signed by the Texans. Released at final cuts, he spent his rookie campaign and the following season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, tallying 10 solo tackles and 1.5 sacks across 11 games.
This is the fourth personnel transaction executed by the Cowboys in three days as owner/general manager Jerry Jones aims to keep his club in contention. On Tuesday, Jones traded Pro Bowl defensive end Everson Griffen to the Detroit Lions for a conditional 2021 sixth-round draft pick. On Wednesday, he released nose tackle Dontari Poe and defensive back Daryl Worley.
READ NEXT: Jerry Jones Speaks Out on Potential Blockbuster Cowboys Trade
Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL