Another Dallas player has defected to the Las Vegas desert. Following in the footsteps of Jason Witten, Maliek Collins, and Jeff Heath, defensive tackle Daniel Ross is the fourth ex-Cowboy expected to sign with coach Jon Gruden and the Raiders.
Ross will be reunited with the Raiders’ new defensive line coach, Rod Marinelli. It will be the 70-year-old Marinelli’s first year in Las Vegas after seven years on the sidelines in Dallas.
Ross, who went undrafted out of Northeast Mississippi Community College, spent two seasons in the Canadian Football League before bouncing around the practice squads in Houston, Detroit, and Kansas City. He joined the Cowboys in November 2017, when Ezekiel Elliott’s suspension opened up a spot on Dallas’s active roster.
In 16 games as a Cowboy in 2017 and 2018, the 27-year-old Ross logged 19 combined tackles, two sacks, two fumbles recoveries, and a forced fumble. He sat out 2019 on injured reserve with a shoulder ailment. In November, Ross was arrested for possession of marijuana and a weapons charge.
Ross did not receive a restricted tender offer from the Cowboys, as the team’s revamping of the interior defensive line continues. Free agent nose tackle Dontari Poe and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, both most recently with the Panthers, were signed by the club in recent days.