Cowboys expected to add 4 players to practice squad on Thursday

The Cowboys are adding four players tot he practice squad including former players La’el Collins and Damien Wilson. | From @ArmyChiefW3

Dallas has been active with their roster leading up to their regular season finale in Washington. Not only str the Cowboys signing former starting right tackle La’el Collins to the practice squad, but they also will add former Cowboy linebacker Damien Wilson. These are among four players expected to join the club once they create room on the 16-man squad.

Collins signed with Dallas back in 2015 and started 71 games along the offensive line. Collins accounted for $8.1 million against the Cowboys salary cap this season after the team released him back in March 2022. His practice squad salary goes unaccounted for as only the top 51 salaries in the NFL count against the cap.

Wilson signed with Kansas City and wound up winning and losing a Super Bowl in his two years in the Midwest. Wilson suited up for 17 games with the Carolina Panthers in 2022, with five starts. His path to seeing the field will hinge on how quickly he can adapt to the scheme.

They did not stop there as the team is also adding wideout Racey McMath and running back SaRodorick Thompson.

McMath was a sixth-round draft pick by Tennessee back in 2021. The former LSU product played in five games this season catching two passes for 40 yards.

Thompson is a rookie undrafted free agent who started with the Seahawks and was signed to their original practice squad after failing to make the initial 53-man roster. All four players will be eligible to practice once the official announcement is made.

Cowboys to bring back exes La’el Collins, Damien Wilson for workouts as playoffs loom

From @ToddBrock24f7: As Dallas gears up for the playoffs, they’re working out 2 former players with postseason experience at key positions.

Could a couple of old friends be coming back to Dallas to help provide postseason depth in two precariously thin position groups?

Offensive tackle La’el Collins, a key piece of the Cowboys’ offensive line for seven seasons before a March 2022 release, is coming to The Star for a workout on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer.

Linebacker Damien Wilson is also getting a look; he played for Dallas from 2015 to 2018.

Both could be signed to the practice squad as the team looks to make final roster tweaks heading into what they hope will be a deep postseason run.

Collins was an undrafted free agent in 2015 out of LSU, a top-10 collegiate talent whose draft stock fell after word came that police wanted to talk with him about the shooting death of a pregnant woman he had been involved with. He was not a suspect, but many teams got scared, and his agents then threatened a season-long holdout if he was drafted later than the third round.

Jerry Jones famously brought him in for a dinner meeting with key members of the team and made him a Cowboy. He went on to start 71 of 74 games played for Dallas (and appeared in four postseason games), though he missed the entire 2020 season due to injury and was suspended for another five games in 2021.

The emergence of Terence Steele during those absences left the high-priced Collins suddenly expendable, and the team gave him permission to seek a trade during the 2022 offseason. He was released in free agency and quickly signed by the Cincinnati Bengals to a three-year deal. Injuries lingered throughout his 2022 season, and he began the 2023 season on the team’s Physically Unable to perform list. Collins was released by Cincinnati in September.

While the 30-year-old Collins played right tackle for most of his time in Dallas, he also has experience at left guard. Current starting left guard Tyler Smith tore his plantar fascia in Sunday’s win over Detroit, and while he’s expected back sooner rather than later, the Cowboys may want more experienced depth than they currently have in a player like T.J. Bass, who finished the Week 17 game for Smith.

Wilson was a fourth-round draft pick out of Minnesota in 2015. He has experience at all three linebacker positions as well as special teams and appeared in every game over his four seasons in Dallas.

He signed with Kansas City in 2019, winning a Super Bowl in his first year as a Chief. By 2021, he was in Jacksonville; he played 2022 with Carolina. He has been out of football for the 2023 season.

Dallas has employed a patchwork approach at linebacker ever since a neck injury cut short Leighton Vander Esch’s season. Veteran Rashaan Evans was brought in and then cut after minimal contributions. Damone Clark has seen plenty of playing time, but his production has been hit-or-miss. Tyrus Wheat, Malik Jefferson, and Buddy Johnson are the Cowboys’ other options, but none of them has a start on their NFL résumé.

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Experience matters, especially in the playoffs. Maybe with a few more guys in the locker room who’ve been there before, the team will find themselves better equipped to do some serious damage with this year’s berth.

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Howie Roseman says Eagles will keep their options open at linebacker position

During his presser to open up the first practice for Philadelphia’s 2023 training camp, GM Howie Roseman says Eagles“will keep their options open” at the linebacke rposition

The Eagles are always doing their due diligence on potential roster additions, and we’re wondering if any of the top remaining NFL free agents would fit in Philadelphia.

The Birds are stacked at almost every position outside of the linebacker position.

Philadelphia has Nakobe Dean and Nicholas Morrow but could look to add more depth with just Christian Ellis, Shaun Bradley, and Davion Taylor as reserves.

During his Wednesday press conference with head coach Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia’s GM said he’d address the linebacker position if necessary.

With Day 2 of the Eagles’ training camp scheduled for Thursday, we’re looking at a handful of free-agent linebackers that could fit the scheme.

Panthers carrying 5th-most dead money into 2023 season

The Panthers are currently carrying over the fifth-highest amount of dead money into the 2023 season. Here’s why:

The Carolina Panthers may be carrying around the second-most salary cap space in the NFL right now, but they’re also carrying something else—a load of dead money.

As we enter June, the Panthers are being charged with $51.5 million of dead money for the 2023 campaign. That total ranks fifth in the league.

So, with the help of Spotrac, let’s see how they got to that bulky number.

Panthers release LB Damien Wilson

The Panthers have officially released LB Damien Wilson, a move that saves the team $3.6 million in cap space for 2023.

As announced by the Carolina Panthers on Friday afternoon, the team has officially released linebacker Damien Wilson. Jordan Schultz of theScore first reported on the developing departure back on Monday.

Wilson signed a two-year deal with the Panthers last spring. The season prior, one he spent with the Jacksonville Jaguars, still stands as the most productive of his eight-year career—as he recorded bests in combined tackles (106), sacks (3.0), passes defensed (five), interceptions (one) and quarterback hits (five).

The 29-year-old wasn’t nearly as effective for Carolina in 2022, finishing with 38 combined tackles and 2.0 sacks over just five starts. Wilson, additionally, played in only four defensive snaps over the team’s final nine games of the season.

Per the team’s official statement on the move, Wilson was not viewed as a fit for the new 3-4 base defense under new coordinator Ejiro Evero. His release will save the Panthers approximately $3.6 million in salary cap space.

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Panthers reportedly plan to release LB Damien Wilson

Per Jordan Schultz of theScore, the Panthers plan on releasing LB Damien Wilson.

We may have a one-and-done between the Carolina Panthers and Damien Wilson.

According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Carolina plans on releasing the 29-year-old linebacker. The move will save the Panthers $3.6 million in cap space.

Wilson signed a two-year deal with Carolina last offseason. He was coming of a career year with the Jacksonville Jaguars that spring—having recorded bests in combined tackles (106), sacks (3.0), passes defensed (five), interceptions (one) and quarterback hits (five).

2022 wasn’t as productive for Wilson. He finished his first—and perhaps only—campaign in Charlotte with 38 combined tackles and just five starts, both accounting for his fewest totals since 2018.

The eighth-year veteran played in only four defensive snaps over the team’s final nine games of the season. Three of those snaps came in Carolina’s Week 16 rout of the Detroit Lions with the other coming a week later in the disappointing Week 17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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PFF names Panthers’ top cut candidate for 2023 offseason

PFF named one cut candidate for each team, and their choice for the Panthers may not be the linebacker you’re expecting it to be.

The Carolina Panthers may be working with deep pockets while assembling a new coaching staff, but that’s not exactly how it works when it comes to building a roster.

As the salary cap situation currently sits, the Panthers are approximately $9.5 million in the red—accounting for the 12th-lowest amount in the NFL. And while they will get some help from a massive league-wide cap increase and about $10.7 million in unused 2022 space, they’ll still have to move some numbers around to improve their on-field personnel.

That, of course, could result in some releases—a topic Pro Football Focus salary cap analyst Brad Spielberger touched on this week. In naming one cut candidate for each team, Spielberger went with a linebacker for Carolina—but probably not the one you’re thinking of.

Sorry, Damien Wilson.

“Wilson was on his third team in three years after signing a two-year, $6.9 million deal with the Carolina Panthers this offseason, but he logged just 204 snaps on defense and earned sub-60.0 grades as a run defender and in coverage,” he writes. “The Panthers have a brand new coaching staff, including rising star defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, meaning there isn’t an allegiance to any player on this roster going forward.”

In addition to that lack of allegiance, Evero’s defenses don’t place much of a premium on inside linebackers. So if the Panthers were to part ways with Wilson, they’d eat about $1 million in dead space while saving $3.6 million.

Fellow inside backer Shaq Thompson, who is on the final season of a lucrative four-year, $54.4 million deal, may be a candidate as well. His departure would save Carolina $13.1 million.

But, uh, don’t tell him that . . .

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Panthers 2022 training camp: 1 burning question at each position on defense

Which questions really need answers for the Panthers and their defense during training camp?

The Carolina Panthers offense led off our morning, and now it’s time for the other side of the ball.

Here is a burning question for each of the defense’s position groups as we head into training camp.

Panthers LB Damien Wilson arrested after allegedly threatening to kill ex-girlfriend

Panthers LB Damien Wilson was arrested after an ex-girlfriend accused him of threatening to kill her with a tire iron and trying to run her over with his car as he left the scene.

As first reported by Michael Williams of the Dallas Morning News, Carolina Panthers linebacker Damien Wilson was arrested last week in Frisco, Texas after allegedly threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend.

Wilson’s ex-girlfriend, Ryan Sokolosky, spoke with the Dallas Morning News and has accused the 28-year-old—per Pro Football Talk—of “damaging her patio, threatening to kill her with a tire iron, destroying her laptop, choking her friend and trying to run over her with his car as he drove off.” Wilson, who was arrested in 2017 on two charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, now faces a charge of assault with bodily injury of a family member.

Williams also reported that Wilson’s attorney, Toby Shook, denied Sokolosky’s allegations.

“Damien Wilson did not commit any type of assault,” he said. “We look forward to all the facts coming out so his name can be cleared.”

The Panthers, who are aware of the arrest and declined to comment on the situation, signed Wilson to a two-year deal back on March 17.

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