Cowboys deny claims about meeting with troubled former first-round pick

It appears there is one reclamation project that not even the Dallas Cowboys will take on.

The Cowboys denied claims that emerged this week about their supposed plans to meet with troubled former Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Damon Arnette. Dallas team writer Clarence Hill Jr. tweeted that the Cowboys do not have any such plans, adding that there was “no truth” to those claims.

The denial comes after Arnette himself spoke to reporters this week and alleged that he would be meeting with the Cowboys. Arnette said that he had a flight booked to Dallas and would discussing a potential contract with the team, per the Washington Times.

A first-round draft pick by the Raiders in 2020, Arnette has been in a lot of trouble over the last couple of years. He was sued over an alleged hit-and-run incident in 2021 and eventually got released by Las Vegas over controversial social media posts. Arnette then signed with a new NFL team last year but was arrested just days later on charges of assault with a deadly weapon. The 26-year-old reached a plea deal in that case earlier this week, agreeing to plead guilty to two misdemeanors and thereby avoiding trial.

The former Ohio State star Arnette was not especially effective in the NFL anyway (29 combined tackles and three passes defended with no other real statistics accrued over two seasons). With his history of off-field issues and the fact that teams like the Cowboys apparently do not even want to meet with him, it would be a surprise if Arnette played another snap in the NFL.