Getty Former Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Trysten Hill
The Dallas Cowboys are coming off a dominant 38-3 win over the New England Patriots, and now one of their former second-round picks is joining the AFC East squad. Dallas has built a team off of their best draft picks, but defensive tackle Trysten Hill is not one of them.
Now, he’s looking for the next step of his career in New England. Boston Herald reporter Doug Kyed was the first to report the signing on October 3 by posting on X (formerly known as Twitter.)
“The Patriots are planning to sign DT Trysten Hill to their practice squad, per source. Hill was a Cowboys 2019 second-round pick out of UCF. 6-3, 310, Hill has also spent time with the Cardinals and Browns,” Kyed wrote.
It marks the third team Hill has signed with since being released by the Cowboys on November 1, 2022. The former UCF standout has not reached his expected potential since entering the NFL in the 2019 NFL draft.
However, he has continued to get chances and the Patriots are the latest team to bring him in. It may just be a practice squad spot, but Hill is likely just looking for any opportunity to impress.
Hill Hoping to Find Success with Patriots
At 6’3″ and 308 pounds, Hill is a prototypical defensive tackle that flashed quickness and strength while at Central Florida. The Cowboys selected him in 2019 hoping to mold a raw but talented player into a force on the interior defensive line, but that failed to pan out.
There’s multiple reasons for that. Over nearly four seasons with Dallas, Hill played in just 25 games. The reason that Hill and the Cowboys couldn’t control was the 25-year-old tearing his ACL in 2020, which nixed him for the majority of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
However, his lack of play outside of that major injury was due to a lack of encouraging development and production. Second-round picks are not usually healthy scratches in their rookie season, but Hill was declared inactive for nine games in 2019.
According to PFR, has totaled just 2.5 sacks and 39 combined tackles over his 31 career appearances with the Cowboys and the Cardinals. It’s clear that Hill has had moments where he’s shown he can play at the NFL level, but he has not done it nearly consistently enough.
Cowboys Sign New Defender
As Dallas saw one former defender join a new team, the Cowboys signed a new defender on the same day. As Dallas Morning News reporter Michael Gehlken first reported, Dallas narrowed down to linebacker Mikel Jones after working out three players on October 3.
“Cowboys worked out three linebackers today: Mikel Jones, Tyler Murray and former SMU standout Jimmy Phillips Jr. Jones was then signed to practice squad,” Gehlken wrote on X. “He bolster position’s depth after the Bengals claimed Devin Harper off waivers last week. Jones spent camp with Chargers.”
Jones is a rookie who went undrafted in the 2023 draft cycle after playing his college ball at Syracuse. He was first-team All-ACC in 2021, but did not receive the honor in his final college season despite totaling four sacks and seven tackles for loss per Sports Reference.