Jabril Cox attempted to land a roster spot with the Vikings this summer, but he was ultimately released via injury settlement. The fourth-year linebacker is now once again positioned to secure a deal. 
Cox has received clearance to return after rehabbing his groin injury, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports. He adds Cox is expected to begin working out for interested teams shortly. He could have an opportunity in place before long as he looks to offer depth contributions for the rest of the campaign.
A fourth-round pick of the Cowboys in 2021, Cox made just seven appearances during his rookie campaign. An ACL tear abruptly ended his season, and he logged only nine games the following year. The LSU product handled just 45 defensive snaps during his time in Dallas, although he saw a heavy workload on special teams. After being waived during roster cutdowns last year, Cox spent time with the Commanders.
Initially signing on Washington’s practice squad, Cox made 10 appearances during his time with the team. Again, his usage did not include a role on defense but rather regular third phase usage. A special teams role will likely be targeted as he attempts to find a suitor midway through the season. A low-cost flier will be worked out if Cox impresses a team looking for depth at the linebacker spot in short order.
With the exception of the Panthers (who have jus $182K in cap space), every team in the league currently has the financial flexibility to afford a league-minimum Cox investment. Now that he is healthy, it will be interesting to see how quickly he manages to find a deal.
I loved this guy coming out of college. He was a beast at North Dakota State and further solidified his worth after transferring to LSU. Maybe I was way off on my evaluation, but I thought he would be a multi-contract player in the NFL, even if just as a rotational ‘backer and special teams contributor. Health has been his biggest hindrance so far; now that he’s healthy, I’m hoping he can stay that way and show that he’s able to bring value to a team going forward. Fingers crossed he’s able to land a practice squad job and work his way on to the 53. He deserves an opportunity.
Yes, this is a lot of words for a former 4th rounder who has 10 career tackles at age 26, but sometimes I get a bit attached to certain players, even if by accident.
I’m with you on Cox (and get fixated in the same way on some guys). In a league that’s struggled so much to find linebackers who can actually play linebacker, I think a healthy version of him should fit in somewhere.
I hope you’re right, Oooof! I miss the days of LBs being highly regarded. It makes me sad that LB is dying off in a way; however, with the running game off to such a strong start league-wide, maybe we’ll see LB and RB bounce back at least a bit in value going forward.
I’m curious if any off-ball LBs or RBs make it into the first round next April? At this point, I’m thinking Harold Perkins and Ashton Jeanty. What do you think?
I do think the running game is coming back in part as a reaction to the recent trend of defenses that play light boxes to take away big plays downfield.
In the case of linebackers, I think it’s just harder to play the position than ever. The Shanahan offenses are practically designed to torment and fool linebackers. There’s a reason we’ve seen so many amazing athletes flame out while guys like CJ Mosley and Lavonte David are still valuable even at advanced ages and slower speeds.
I’ve seen Mike Renner say that he thinks it’s almost always foolish to take a linebacker in the first round these days because there’s such a high failure rate and they so often take a few years to even get their feet under them.
As for the next draft, I kinda doubt a true off-ball linebacker makes it into the first round, but could see Stutsman out of Oklahoma doing it. Easy to see coaches falling in love with him. Perkins tore his ACL, right? And I think he may have been too tweener to go in the first round anyway.
Definitely think we’ll see at least one running back in the first round though. Jeanty is amazing. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Judkins in there too.