The Cowboys wasted little time bringing in backup after third-year defensive end Sam Williams was lost for the 2024 season with an ACL injury. After a Thursday workout with the team, veteran Al-Quadin Muhammad has been officially signed by Dallas, and another familiar name at the position- Shaka Toney- is expected to be added as well.
Muhammad, 29, was a sixth-round draft pick by the Saints in 2017 out of the University of Miami. He played only sparingly during his rookie season in New Orleans and then landed with the Colts, where he made 64 regular-season game appearances (and three more in the playoffs) from 2018 to 2021.
His most recent action came in 2022, playing in 16 games for the Bears. He returned to the practice squad in Indianapolis last year but did not see the field.
The 6-foot-4-inch, 250-pound Muhammad has 12 sacks, 33 quarterback hits, four forced fumbles, 157 tackles, and 23 tackles for loss on his NFL résumé.
ESPN insider Adam Schefter first reported the news of Muhammad’s signing by the Cowboys, saying it would be a one-year deal for the New Jersey native.
Cowboys are signing former Colts free-agent defensive end Al Quadin Muhammad to a one-year deal.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 1, 2024
News that Toney was also expected to be added to the camp roster came shortly thereafter.
Toney was also part of the group of four defensive ends invited for that Thursday workout in Oxnard, along with Carl Lawson and Justin Hollins.
[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]
A seventh-round draft pick by Washington in 2021, Toney had been a college teammate of Micah Parsons at Penn State. He recorded 1.5 sacks and 16 tackles in 26 game appearances over two seasons in D.C., where he played under assistant coach Jeff Zgonina, now with the Cowboys.
Micah Parsons and Shaka Toney, teammates once again.#DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/OVxuej0SgI
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisDC) August 1, 2024
Toney was suspended by the league for betting on NFL games during the 2022 season; he was reinstated in April of this year.
“We were actually talking about these guys before Sam’s injury,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Thursday, per David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, “so we would definitely like to hopefully add one.”
Now they’ve added two.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
[mm-video type=video id=01j477d946jkpg52qzda playlist_id=01eqbwens7sctqdrqg player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01j477d946jkpg52qzda/01j477d946jkpg52qzda-4dbe4cd2460cc3b206abc92915977fd6.jpg]
[lawrence-newsletter]