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Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC East

August 28th, 2024 at 6:20pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These Commanders, Cowboys, Eagles and Giants moves are noted below.

Dallas Cowboys

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

New York Giants

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Philadelphia Eagles

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Washington Commanders

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

2024 NFL Waiver Order

August 28th, 2024 at 10:42am CST by Sam Robinson

Waiver claims can begin coming in at 11am CT. While the waiver order will depend on 2024 records in several weeks, teams’ 2023 finishes currently determine it. Here is how the waiver priority list stacks up heading into today’s round of claims:

  1. Carolina Panthers
  2. Washington Commanders
  3. New England Patriots
  4. Arizona Cardinals
  5. Los Angeles Chargers
  6. New York Giants
  7. Tennessee Titans
  8. Atlanta Falcons
  9. Chicago Bears
  10. New York Jets
  11. Minnesota Vikings
  12. Denver Broncos
  13. Las Vegas Raiders
  14. New Orleans Saints
  15. Indianapolis Colts
  16. Seattle Seahawks
  17. Jacksonville Jaguars
  18. Cincinnati Bengals
  19. Los Angeles Rams
  20. Pittsburgh Steelers
  21. Miami Dolphins
  22. Philadelphia Eagles
  23. Cleveland Browns
  24. Dallas Cowboys
  25. Green Bay Packers
  26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  27. Houston Texans
  28. Buffalo Bills
  29. Detroit Lions
  30. Baltimore Ravens
  31. San Francisco 49ers
  32. Kansas City Chiefs

Cowboys To Sign RB Dalvin Cook

August 28th, 2024 at 9:40am CST by Sam Robinson

Linked to the Cowboys at multiple junctures over the past several months, Dalvin Cook is finally on track to join the team. Dallas is adding the former Minnesota Pro Bowler, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports.

Cook worked out for the Cowboys earlier this week, and while DLLS Sports’ Clarence Hill notes the team eyed the eighth-year RB on the practice squad, this union will nevertheless commence. Veterans who join teams late in the summer or during the season regularly latch on via P-squad agreements — with eventual promotions to follow. This is indeed a P-squad agreement, per ESPN.com’s Todd Archer, with the Cowboys will see how Cook looks in Mike McCarthy‘s scheme soon.

While this will also reunite Cook with longtime Vikings HC Mike Zimmer, the new Cowboys DC will not exactly be overseeing him this time around. Cook, 29, arrived during Zimmer’s Minnesota tenure and played five seasons for the since-fired leader. He joins a running back room that seemed short-staffed on cutdown day.

Dallas let Tony Pollard walk after a moderately disappointing season — at least compared to his 2022 Pro Bowl campaign — and the five-year Cowboys contributor scored a three-year Titans deal. The Cowboys were linked to Texas prospect Jonathon Brooks ahead of Day 2, but not only did the team not end up with the former Bijan Robinson Longhorns backup, it stood down altogether in the draft. This preceded a reunion with Ezekiel Elliott, who is still counting as dead money on Dallas’ payroll from the post-June 1 cut the team made in 2023. Elliott is certainly past his prime, but as of now, the former rushing champion is slated to lead Dallas’ RB committee.

If Elliott is past his prime, it is safe to say Cook is as well. Riding four straight 1,100-yard rushing seasons going into his Jets stay, the former second-round pick struggled as the team’s Breece Hall bridge and completed by far his worst season. The Jets ended up cutting Cook, who finished the campaign as a Ravens reserve. Cook averaged just 3.2 yards per carry as a Jet (67/214); he had never dropped below 4.4 in a season with the Vikings.

The Cowboys were still linked to Cook between his Jets and Ravens tenures, and they resurfaced on this radar in March. Both Cook and Elliott were interested in joining the team; the club went with familiarity at that point. Elliott’s 2,421 career touches lead all active running backs, but Cook’s 1,585 sit fifth on that list. That said, Elliott fared better than Cook in 2023. The one-and-done Patriot accumulated 955 scrimmage yards and five touchdowns, playing initially as Rhamondre Stevenson‘s backup and then returning to a starting role once the Pats’ RB1 went down late in the season.

Dallas also rosters 2023 Pollard backup Rico Dowdle, who has been with the team for five years, and kept diminutive former sixth-rounder Deuce Vaughn as its third-stringer. Cook stands to compete for playing time in this Elliott-led committee, with this potentially being the four-time Pro Bowler’s last shot at a regular RB gig.

Last year, the Cowboys steadily evaluated Martavis Bryant on their practice squad. That did not produce any game action. Given the state of Dallas’ RB room and Cook not being a special case like Bryant — who has not played a regular-season game since 2018 — would point to a P-squad stay being shorter. If Cook is not bumped up to the Cowboys’ 53-man roster early in the season, it would be indicative of the talented ball-carrier deemed too far past his peak.

Cook was believed to have scheduled an additional workout, per Machota, and Hill floated the Colts as the other team showing interest. Indianapolis’ backup situation is thin post-Zack Moss, with ex-49ers washout Trey Sermon in position to be Jonathan Taylor‘s top reserve. But the Cowboys will cut off any route elsewhere, giving the once-dynamic back another shot.

Cowboys Reduce Roster To 53 Players

August 27th, 2024 at 11:03pm CST by Ely Allen

After some late trades and signings, the Cowboys joined in the NFL’s mass exodus of players to get their roster down to 53 players:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

  • T Nathan Thomas

Placed on IR (designated for return):

A number of veterans who were hoping to make the team in Dallas this year saw that hope come to an end. Freeman couldn’t compete with the young backups behind Ezekiel Elliott. Lawson couldn’t contribute to a depleted defensive line, either.

Rogers, the team’s seventh-round pick out of Auburn, is the only drafted rookie to be waived, though Thomas, the team’s other seventh-round pick out of Louisiana, will miss the entire season on injured reserve.

Brevyn Spann-Ford didn’t end up getting drafted, but the 24-year-old, 6-foot-7 tight end out of Minnesota will be the fourth tight end on the roster to start the year.

Cowboys To Trade TE Peyton Hendershot To Chiefs

August 27th, 2024 at 2:16pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Chiefs are making another trade. After acquiring Cardinals edge rusher Cameron Thomas late last night, Kansas City is adding to its tight end group.

Dallas is sending backup tight end Peyton Hendershot to Kansas City, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. A third-year UDFA, Hendershot has totaled 15 receptions for 141 yards in his career. The Cowboys will obtain a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick in the deal, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini tweets.

Despite the Chiefs still rostering one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history, they are adding some depth. Not employing any tight end on Travis Kelce‘s level, the Cowboys are still set at the position. They have 2023 starter Jake Ferguson, former second-round pick Luke Schoonmaker and UDFA John Stephens.

Kansas City added to its tight end group by drafting TCU’s Jared Wiley in Round 4. Multiyear Kelce backup Noah Gray is now in a contract year, and the team did not retain Jody Fortson this offseason. Kelce’s status is, of course, unthreatened; he received a raise this offseason and remains signed through 2025.

Hendershot only logged 165 offensive snaps last season, and while Pro Football Focus viewed his pass blocking as elite, that only came on a nine-snap sample size. Hendershot, 25, did notch two 500-plus-yard seasons at Indiana. One of those included a 622-yard, four-touchdown showing (2021). The Chiefs now have him under contract through the 2025 season.

Cowboys, CeeDee Lamb Agree On Extension

August 26th, 2024 at 11:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

At long last, the Cowboys have a deal done with one of their contract-year cogs. The team has reached an agreement with CeeDee Lamb, ending his holdout.

Dallas is giving Lamb a four-year, $136MM deal, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports. This gives Lamb a $34MM AAV, which puts him between Justin Jefferson and A.J. Brown. The fifth-year Dallas standout is now the NFL’s second-highest-paid wide receiver. Lamb secured $100MM guaranteed on this deal, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. This gives him considerable separation from Brown in terms of wideout guarantees.

[RELATED: Dak Prescott Not Setting Extension Deadline]

This comes after a Monday report indicated the Cowboys had again upped their offer. Making a few proposals over the past several weeks, Dallas had previously come in with a deal worth just less than $33MM per year. Lamb’s camp moved the team to this $34MM-AAV point, where NFL.com’s Jane Slater notes they have been for a while. Team Lamb did well to capitalize on the 2020 first-rounder’s monster season and the salary cap’s recent spike. The NFL now has five $30MM-per-year receivers, with the market moving many times after the ceiling did not budge in 2023.

The Cowboys were at $32.5MM for a while, per Slater, and then moved to $33MM per year. After an off-an-on stretch for a few weeks, this process gained steam beginning Saturday. Lamb is still finalizing language, per Slater. Barring a Randy Gregory redux, this contract should be done Tuesday. The Cowboys can waive the fines Lamb incurred during his holdout due to the receiver being previously tied to a rookie contract.

Lamb emerged on the Cowboys’ extension radar last year, but the team followed the Vikings in waiting. Jefferson created a gap between himself and the field with his four-year, $140MM pact, and he set the Lamb market in the process. The Eagles had given Brown a three-year, $96MM deal in April, with Lamb’s 2020 draft classmate topping that by a notable margin. The Cowboys were understandably hesitant to give Lamb a deal that make him the NFL’s highest-paid non-QB, and a report soon indicated the Oklahoma alum was not mandating that. Though, he came awfully close on this deal — one that puts Dallas in a new guarantee sector regarding a non-QB payment.

The Cowboys came into camp with one of the more complex contract quandaries in recent NFL history. Dak Prescott remains unsigned, and Micah Parsons fully expects to become the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback when his payday arrives. The Cowboys may well table that to 2025, a prospect Parsons sounded fine with when he addressed the matter earlier this summer. This offseason represented Lamb’s window to cash in, and the Cowboys have their top weapon signed through the 2028 season.

The Cowboys’ previous WR guarantee high-water mark came in at $60MM — Amari Cooper‘s 2020 deal. The Eagles guaranteed Brown $84MM, and the Cowboys have signed off on Lamb bridging the gap to Jefferson’s record-smashing $110MM number.

It will be interesting to see how this contract is structured, as the Cowboys have escaped making good on a guarantee for a receiver in the recent past. But the team bent on its usual term-length preference by agreeing to a four-year Lamb re-up. The Cowboys generally prefer five- or six-year extensions, but the receiver market is flooded with high-end deals for three or four years. This undoubtedly factored into Lamb’s talks.

The Cowboys fully guaranteed Cooper $40MM and escaped needing to pay him the additional $20MM by trading him to the Browns in 2022. Lamb’s future contract factored into that decision, and while the Cowboys have seen the Cooper trade hurt their receiver situation as a whole, their 2020 first-rounder has dominated with Cooper in Cleveland. Lamb, 25, posted 1,359 yards and nine touchdowns in 2022 and then dropped a record-setting Cowboys showing. He led the NFL with 135 receptions last season, totaling 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns in that banner campaign. It is difficult for a receiver to make a better case for a long-term payment, and Lamb’s camp took care of him months later.

Lamb broke Michael Irvin‘s single-season franchise reception record by 24 and eclipsed the Hall of Famer’s yardage record by 146. These new standards, of course, came in a 17-game season during an era that features higher pass-game usage and friendlier rules for offenses. But Lamb still submitted a statement season to prove worthy of a top-market extension. This now shines a brighter light on Prescott.

Dallas could have franchise-tagged Lamb in 2025, cutting into his leverage a bit. But the team’s hands are tied with Dak, who cannot be tagged or traded. Prescott has continued to say the right things regarding a long-term future in Dallas, but he holds leverage — which also includes a whopping cap number ($55.13MM) and 2025 dead money penalty ($40.13MM) if not extended — comparable to what Kirk Cousins possessed back in 2018. The Cowboys will have a difficult time extending Prescott, but less than two weeks before the regular season, they do have one of their pillars signed.

Lamb’s $17.99MM cap number, as Schefter reports a receiver-record $38MM signing bonus (which will spread out the All-Pro’s cap hits) is present in this accord, figures to drop on this deal. Though, the Cowboys now face the prospect of needing to give Prescott an NFL-record contract to pair with Lamb’s big-ticket deal — and Parsons’ future market-setting pact — or face an uncertain future at the game’s premier position.

Jones has encountered criticism for letting the Cowboys’ contract quagmire reach this stage. Lamb would have come cheaper had the Cowboys made an aggressive push to finalize a deal last year, though it is not exactly certain he would have checked in too much cheaper. Tyreek Hill was tied to a $30MM-per-year deal, leading the way entering this offseason. With Jefferson always poised to take the market toward or into the mid-$30MM-AAV range, Lamb — who, like Jefferson, is five years younger than Hill — would have always commanded a contract north of $30MM per year. That said, the Cowboys probably would not have needed to go to this guarantee place had they done a deal in 2023.

Questions also remain about the Cowboys’ auxiliary receivers beyond 2024, but they have their WR1 locked in. This follows the accords for Cooper, Dez Bryant and Miles Austin, keeping the Cowboys’ run of extending cornerstone receivers intact. Prescott, however, continues to test the organization here.

Cowboys Cut 15 Players

August 26th, 2024 at 6:33pm CST by Ben Levine

The Cowboys started making some cuts to their roster today, with ESPN’s Todd Archer passing along that 15 players have been cut:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Damien Wilson‘s second stint with the Cowboys has ended without him getting into a game. The veteran linebacker caught on with Dallas’s practice squad back in January and re-signed with the organization in April, but he won’t make it to Week 1 with the squad. The former fourth-round pick started his career with the Cowboys, collecting 121 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 64 games (22 starts). That was followed by a two-year stint with the Chiefs before one-year stops with the Jaguars and Panthers. Wilson didn’t end up getting into a regular season game during the 2023 campaign.

Albert Huggins is coming off a career year in Atlanta where he collected 22 tackles in 13 games (five starts). The 27-year-old waited until early August to catch on with the Cowboys, but he didn’t end up earning a spot on the team’s initial 53-man roster. Considering his journeyman status, there’s a chance the defensive lineman sticks around on Dallas’s practice squad.

Cowboys Meeting With RB Dalvin Cook

August 26th, 2024 at 5:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

Moving on from Tony Pollard, the Cowboys exited training camp with an interesting running back situation. A post-prime Ezekiel Elliott is back, but the team will consider another veteran back who has been on the radar previously.

Dalvin Cook is heading to Dallas for a meeting tonight, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. Cook did not look especially good with the Jets and did not see much action with the Ravens, halting his momentum after a strong run in Minnesota. He will try to catch on with a Cowboys team that has big backfield questions to answer.

A March report indicated Cook joined Elliott in having interest in joining the team. The Cowboys had also come up as an interested party late in the season. The long-rumored Elliott return did come to pass, and he now leads what looks like a post-Pollard committee. Dallas also rosters Rico Dowdle, Royce Freeman and 2023 sixth-round pick Deuce Vaughn. The team has not set its final roster yet, and Cook resurfacing four months after expressing interest is notable — even on the heels of by far his worst season.

Stepping in as a Jets bridge while Breece Hall finished his ACL rehab, Cook totaled 214 yards on 67 carries. That 3.2-yard average marked Cook’s only time under 4.4 in a season as a pro. He came into the 2023 season riding the NFL’s only active string of four 1,100-yard rushing seasons, but at 29, the 2017 second-round pick is hovering on the league’s fringes.

Cook did undergo shoulder surgery to address a years-long issue last winter. Unless he can show form that proves last season was an outlier, the Florida State alum is moving toward retirement. He exited 2023 with 1,585 career touches. The Cowboys already employ the back with the most active touches, as Elliott has logged 2,421 in his eight-year career. Among backs currently on rosters, only five have accumulated more touches than Cook.

The seven-year vet sought a Jets trade before being cut last year, as Hall returned to form quickly. It would be difficult for Cook to land in a better situation, as the Cowboys have made three straight playoff berths and made minimal investments at running back this offseason.

Cowboys Increase Offer To WR CeeDee Lamb

August 26th, 2024 at 11:17am CST by Adam La Rose

The Cowboys have a number of key roster decisions to make over the coming days, but the status of CeeDee Lamb is another situation to monitor. The All-Pro receiver’s holdout continues, but Dallas has made an upgraded offer.

The Cowboys’ latest submission carries an annual average value above $33MM, Clarence Hill Jr. of DLLS.com reports. That marks a notable update from the latest offer, one which fell short of that mark. Still, it is another sign of traction being gained as Dallas looks to bring Lamb into the fold in time for Week 1.

As Hill adds, the newest offer is also four years in length. The Cowboys have traditionally favored longer term on monster extensions, but four years has become the preferred length for many high-profile players when they agree to second contracts. Lamb is attached to his fifth-year option for this season, so an extension of that length would keep him in place though 2028. Working out an agreement would take care of one of the Cowboys’ major contract situations.

Dak Prescott is a pending free agent, though he is set to begin the season with his contract as is. The 2023 MVP runner-up is open to negotiating in the fall, and that may be necessary given the limited time remaining between now and Week 1. $60MM per season could be the price point needed to keep Prescott on the books long term, but in any event cost certainty with respect to Lamb will be key as Dallas navigates negotiations with Prescott and edge rusher Micah Parsons.

Justin Jefferson took the receiver market to new heights with a $35MM-per-year Vikings pact. A.J. Brown (Eagles) sits second in AAV at the position, but signs have long pointed to a Lamb accord splitting the pair. The 25-year-old skipped OTAs and minicamp before electing to remain away from the team during training camp. The latter decision has led to daily fines, but Dallas will have the option of waiving those once a deal is in place. A final agreement could be coming soon if this upgraded offer sparks positive negotiations.

Cowboys CB DaRon Bland To Miss Up To 8 Games

August 24th, 2024 at 9:50pm CST by Ely Allen

9:50pm: While Bland’s absence will be felt at the start of the year, Jones said the Cowboys will not explore a cornerback addition to fill the vacancy created by his injury (h/t Nick Harris of the team’s website). Jones further indicated (via Machota) Dallas is not likely to be active at any positions during roster cutdowns with the team having already added along the defensive line by way of the Jordan Phillips trade acquisition and the Linval Joseph signing.

1:58pm: The Cowboys defense was hit with yet another significant blow before the season has even begun. As Dallas has been scrambling to make up for the loss of Sam Williams to a season-ending ACL tear, they will now be forced to replace another starter, as well. First reported by Jon Machota of The Athletic, All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland is set to undergo foot surgery that will keep him out for six to eight weeks.

According to Machota, “Bland experienced foot discomfort on Wednesday of last week during training camp.” He underwent imaging that “revealed a stress fracture in his foot,” requiring the necessary surgery. While experts are predicting the above six- to eight-week absence, team owner/president/general manager Jerry Jones was quoted predicting an absence of four to five weeks during an interview on 105.3 The FAN. Regardless, the team will be without an All-Pro defender to start the season.

Bland burst onto the scene two years ago, despite being a fifth-round pick out of Fresno State. Originally a dual-sport athlete at Sacramento State where he competed in track and field for the Hornets during both indoor and outdoor seasons, primarily as a long jumper, Bland’s collegiate career did nothing to suggest the impact he would have in the NFL. With only three interceptions in three years at Sacramento State and only two picks in his lone season with the Bulldogs, Bland matched his collegiate interception-total in his rookie season alone.

As a rookie in Dallas, Bland started eight of the final 10 games and recorded the first five picks of his career. The Cowboys didn’t start him in Week 1 of last year, but when he returned an interception for the first pick-six of his career, it didn’t take them long to remedy their error. Three weeks later, in his second start of the season, Bland picked off two more passes returning another for a touchdown. Bland would end up leading the league with nine interceptions and setting an NFL record with five pick-sixes on the year.

The Cowboys were set to enter the season with Bland across from Trevon Diggs as their starting cornerbacks with Jourdan Lewis returning as a near-permanent fixture in the slot. After Diggs went on injured reserve near the start of the season last year, the Cowboys saw Bland and veteran addition Stephon Gilmore make up 85 percent of the team’s defensive snaps at outside cornerback, so they don’t have anyone with extensive experience ready to fill in.

Nahshon Wright had reportedly been mixing in with the first-team defense a bit on the perimeter this offseason, but the team shipped him off to Minnesota, receiving Vikings cornerback Andrew Booth in return. A former second-round pick out of Clemson, Booth has struggled to live up to his draft stock so far in his NFL career, only making two starts with the Vikings in as many years. Second-year defensive back Eric Scott Jr., who failed to make an appearance in his rookie season, and fifth-round rookie Caelen Carson out of Wake Forest will both join Booth in attempting to fill in early for Bland.

The Cowboys will likely utilize one of the NFL’s newer roster rules and place Bland on IR. Though, usually, players placed on IR before the start of the regular season are forced to miss the entire year, a new rule allows teams to place two players on the injured list before roster cutdowns who are exempt from that requirement, allowing them to be activated and return within the same season. Bland is likely to receive that distinction for Dallas.

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