Weekend moves: Holland out, Dockery in, Cowboys cut 26, Gurode signed
After a busy couple of days at Valley Ranch, the Dallas Cowboys’ final roster is starting to take shape. I thought I’d update all you Landry Hat fans with a quick review of the Boys’ various moves over the weekend.
The biggest move, and the most celebrated by fans, is the release of veteran offensive lineman Montrae Holland. The 9 year veteran was expected to fill in as a starter for the Cowboys after the release of guard Leonard Davis. But injury and weight issues plagued Holland during training camp and throughout the preseason. This left the door wide open for rookies David Arkin and Bill Nagy to impress the Dallas’ coaching staff just enough to make Holland expendable.
Find out who Dallas has in mind to replace Holland, where Andre Gurode landed, and what players didn’t make Saturday’s cuts, after the break.
In order to replace the veteran leadership on the young offensive line, it appears Dallas will sign Guard Derrick Dockery today. Dockery is a native Texan who played his college ball for UT. The former third round pick started all but 3 games in his first seven years in the league. He’s played for both the Bills and the Redskins. A knee injury limited him to just two games last year.
In order to make room on the roster for Dockery, the Cowboys released tackle Sam Young on Monday. Young is expected to be signed to Dallas’ practice squad soon.
Dallas made their NFL required cuts to a 53 player roster on Saturday. Here’s list of the players who were placed on waivers or released:
Offensive Cuts: QB Tom Brandstater, RB Lonyae Miller, FB Shaun Chapas, FB Chris Gronkowski, FB Jason Pociask, FB Isaiah Greenhouse, WR Lyle Leong, WR Manuel Johnson, WR Tysson Poots, WR Teddy Williams, G Pepa Letuli
Defensive Cuts: DE Igor Olshansky, DE Jimmy Saddler-McQueen, LB Brandon Williams, LB Mike Balogun, LB Kenwin Cummings, LB Orie Lemon, S Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, S Andrew Sendejo, S Colin Zych, CB Mario Butler, CB Chris Randle, CB Josh Thomas
Special Teams Cuts: K Shayne Graham, K Dave Rayner, P Chris Jones
A handful of Cowboy players were snatched off the waiver wire by other teams on Sunday. Full back Chris Gronkowski was claimed off waivers by the Colts. Safety Andrew Sendejo was claimed off waivers by the Jets. And corner back Josh Thomas was claimed off waivers by the Panthers.
And here are the players who made it through the waiver wire and are expected to be added to Dallas’ practice squad: Full back Shaun Chapas, full back Isaiah Greenhouse, wideout Teddy Williams, linebacker Orie Lemon, safety Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, and corner back Mario Butler.
Dallas didn’t just cut players over the weekend. They signed a couple too. Most notably, full back Tony Fiammetta from the Carolina Panthers. Fiammetta is in his third year and was primarily used as a lead blocker. The dude is a beast at 6’0 and 242 lbs. This guy punches holes and that’s pretty much it.
The Cowboys are also expected to add wideout Andre Holmes to their practice squad. The release of the 6’6 project out of Division II Hillsdale was a pleasant surprise for the Boy’s who unsuccessfully tried to sign him as an undrafted free agent. But Holmes showed little upside in the preseason as he failed to record even one reception for the Vikings. The Boy’s coaching staff must have saw something they liked when he attended a pre-draft try out with them back in April.
Finally, Audre Gurode has landed on a team…as a backup. Gurode was signed by the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday to back up veteran Matt Birk. The five time pro bowl center also visited with New England. Gurode was released by the Cowboys two weeks ago after being outplayed for his starting position by 2nd year center Phil Costa.