Veteran defensive tackle Elijah Garcia will get his first opportunity on the Dallas Cowboys active roster in Week 4.
According to the NFL transaction wire, the Cowboys signed Garcia off their practice squad and to the active roster Wednesday. The Cowboys will face the Houston Texans on Sunday during Week 4.
Garcia spent the first three weeks of the regular season on the Dallas practice squad.
The defensive tackle entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2022. Before signing with the Cowboys, he experienced stints with the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers.
From 2024-25, Garcia played nine games for the Giants. He started three of those contests, posting 18 combined tackles, including three tackles for loss. Garcia also had two quarterback hits, one sack and one fumble recovery in nine contests with Dallas’s NFC East rival.
Garcia will replace Jonathan Bullard on the Dallas active roster. The Cowboys placed Bullard, along with safety Jalen Thompson, on injured reserve Wednesday.
Additionally, the Cowboys signed three defensive backs to the practice squad — Alex Austin, Tyrek Funderburk and Juanyeh Thomas. The league included all of those moves on the transaction wire Wednesday evening.
Cowboys Sign DT Elijah Garcia to Practice Squad
Garcia spent the 2026 offseason entirely in the NFC South but with two separate teams. The defensive tackle joined the Panthers just in time for training camp. But Carolina released Garcia ahead of the league’s roster deadline on August 30.
A couple days later, the Cowboys signed Garcia. Now a month later, the defensive tackle will get his first shot on the Cowboys active roster.
Bullard averaged 21.3 defensive snaps per game over the first three weeks of the season. Garcia could be in line for a similar role although maybe slightly less playing time given he hasn’t played in the regular season yet this fall.
Bullard posted three combined tackles, two quarterback hits and 0.5 sacks in the first three games this season for Dallas.
In 2022, Garcia signed as an undrafted free agent with the Rams. While he didn’t make the Los Angeles active roster, Garcia began his rookie campaign on the team’s practice squad.
The Broncos poached Garcia off the Rams practice squad in early December 2022. The defensive tackle made his NFL debut with Denver against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17.
Over the end of that season and the 2023 campaign, Garcia appeared in five games for the Broncos. He had five combined tackles, one quarterback hit, one sack and one forced fumble.
The Broncos waived Garcia at the end of the 2024 preseason. That’s when he joined the Giants as a member of New York’s practice squad. He signed with the Giants active roster in December 2024.
Garcia stayed with the Giants until the Falcons signed him off the New York practice squad in November 2025. At the end of last season, Garcia played three games for the Falcons.
His nine contests with the Giants remains more than half of his regular season career games. That will change, though, as he debuts for the Cowboys this Sunday.
The Cowboys-Texans matchup will kick off at 12 pm CT at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
Cowboys Add Former Giants Starting DT to Active Roster