Dallas Cowboys Sign 13 Players To Practice Squad

FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys have signed 13 players to their practice squad, the club announced Monday. Defensive tackle Adedayo Odeleye holds the International Player Pathway exemption, which leaves 12 of the 16 standard spots filled and four open.

Quarterback Joe Milton III is a candidate for one of them. Dallas waived Milton on Monday as the corresponding move for the Emari Demercado waiver claim, and the club plans to add him to the practice squad if he clears, Patrik Walker of DallasCowboys.com reported.

Wanya Morris is not on the list. Dallas was signing the offensive tackle after the Atlanta Falcons waived him Sunday, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reported earlier Monday.

Waiver claims processed at noon CT, and practice squads had to be reported to the league by 5 p.m. CT. Every player the Cowboys signed was among the 35 they waived or released Sunday.

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer called it the worst 48 hours of his job. The staff sat players down rather than shaking hands on the way out, and Schottenheimer said several of the released players told him they appreciated the process.

“We’ve got a number of guys that we’ve talked to about coming back on the practice squad,” Schottenheimer said. “We don’t say that to everybody, if I’m being honest. You know, you don’t say that to each player because you don’t want to, you know, I want to be honest with them. And so I feel really good about that.”

Offense On The Dallas Cowboys Practice Squad

Israel Abanikanda returns for a second stint. Dallas signed him to the practice squad Nov. 30, then gave him a reserve/future deal Jan. 6. The New York Jets drafted him 143rd overall in 2023, in the fifth round, and he has 6 career games with 22 carries for 70 yards.

Jordan Hudson came out of Garland High School. He spent a year at TCU before three seasons at SMU, from 2023 through 2025. As a senior he caught 61 passes for 766 yards with 6 touchdowns and made third-team All-ACC. Hudson went undrafted in April. A Dallas judge restored his NCAA eligibility earlier this month, which gave him a path back to college football. He cleared waivers Monday and re-signed with Dallas.

Anthony Smith was the final pick of the Cowboys’ 2026 draft, 218th overall in the seventh round. At East Carolina last season he caught 64 passes for 1,053 yards and 7 touchdowns. Six college seasons across NC State and East Carolina left him with 118 catches for 2,095 yards.

Michael Trigg spent time at USC and Ole Miss before Baylor. In 2025 he caught 50 passes for 694 yards with 6 touchdowns and earned first-team All-Big 12.

The line additions are Marcellus Johnson and Nick Leverett. Dallas waived Johnson on Sunday, a day after the Broderick Jones trade, and he has yet to play a regular-season game. Leverett was released rather than waived, having accrued enough service, and his 23 career games and 11 starts came with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots, and Arizona Cardinals.

Defense On The Dallas Cowboys Practice Squad

Derion Kendrick has the most career games in the group. He signed with Dallas on March 24 and was released Sunday. The Los Angeles Rams took him 212th overall in 2022, in the sixth round, and across 47 career games, 15 of them last season, he has 3 interceptions and 19 pass deflections.

Dallas claimed Reddy Steward off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings on Aug. 27 of last year. He played 17 games last season, all with Dallas, and has 18 in his career with 1.5 sacks.

April brought Curtis Robinson to Dallas, on April 27, after five seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. He played 14 games last season. His career totals are 29 games and 52 tackles.

Justin Barron finished last season on the active roster. Dallas elevated him from the practice squad Dec. 24 and signed him to the 53 on Jan. 3. In August, Barron intercepted three passes in the joint practice against the Los Angeles Rams.

This is Isaiah Land‘s third run with the organization. Dallas signed him as an undrafted rookie out of Florida A&M in 2023 and waived him that August. He came back to the practice squad in August of last year and has 18 career games.

Tommy Dunn Jr. signed as an undrafted rookie on May 3. Spotrac lists the deal at three years and $3,105,000, with $50,000 guaranteed. He started the last two seasons at Kansas, and 2.5 sacks as a senior was a career high.

Odeleye came over from the Baltimore Ravens in August of last year. He signed a reserve/future deal on Jan. 6. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, he played at Loughborough University in England and spent a season with the Berlin Thunder of the European League of Football. The Houston Texans and the Ravens were his first two NFL stops.

Who Did Not Come Back

Running backs Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah are not on the group, and neither are Shiyazh Pete, Jay Toia, Trevor Keegan, Zion Childress, or Julius Wood. Dallas took Blue 149th overall in 2025 and Mafah in the seventh round the same year. Schottenheimer said Malik Davis did enough at running back to earn the roster spot, and that Dallas went heavy at safety.

“We said to both those guys that weren’t sure, that were not sure that it would go that direction,” Schottenheimer explained. “And that’s as honest as I could be with them.”

Practice Squad Rules And Open Spots

A practice squad consists of 16 players, with an additional 17th for teams utilizing an International Player Pathway exemption. Odeleye fills this 17th spot for Dallas. Out of the 16 regular spots, six have no service limit, while the remaining ten are limited by a cap based on accrued seasons.

Four protections are available every Tuesday during the season. Additionally, Dallas can promote two practice squad players to the active roster on game day, with each player limited to three elevations.

Dallas has 13 days until the opener at the New York Giants