It’s that time of the draft again!
Over the last few decades, the Dallas Cowboys have done a remarkable job in the second phase of the draft process. Once all 256 picks are made, spread across seven rounds, the race to secure prospects who weren’t selected begins. Last year’s undrafted free agent (UDFA) haul was huge for Dallas.
That list includes TE Peyton Hendershot, RB Malik Davis, safeties Markquese Bell and Juanyeh Thomas, center Alec Lindstrom and WRs Dontario Drummond and Dennis Houston.
UDFAs can take a draft from mediocre to good or from good to outstanding. The Cowboys entered draft weekend with 68 spots taken up on their 90-man roster. If the Cowboys leave Day 3 with their allotted four selections, they will still have 15 roster spots to fill.
Dallas has had their share of UDFA success stories, with of course the most famous being Eastern Illinois’ Tony Romo in 2003. Upon his retirement, Romo essentially holds every major Cowboys passing record. Strangely enough, the well has seemingly run dry when it comes to UDFAs and Dallas.
Other stars such as WR Miles Austin, slot WR Cole Beasley and K Dan “Split’Em” Bailey were UDFA additions. Barry Church and Ron Leary were UDFAs who earned the Cowboys compensatory picks after leaving Dallas and getting great deals elsewhere. Terence Steele is a UDFA who’s started all three seasons he’s been in the league.
Teams start contacting potential UDFAs during the draft’s sixth and seventh rounds, gauging interest from their agents should the player go undrafted.
As always, this list will be populated based on reports of players being signed. Often times, this works out but sometimes the team is left at the alter.
Incidentally, some reports will be misinterpreted by the person reporting. Players are often invited to rookie minicamp (either next weekend or the one following) and then announce they’ve been signed by the team.
Who will be part of this year’s crop for Dallas? We’ll cover them all right here.