Cowboys make two disappointing signings before MNF showdown vs. Bengals

While many believe the Dallas Cowboys don't have a puncher's chance of making the playoffs, their season will be on the line regardless Monday night against the Cincinnati Bengals. One more loss to drop to 5-8 would finish off any hope that Dallas can make a run.

Despite being 5-8 themselves, the Bengals flaunt the NFL's most daunting passing attack. Joe Burrow would be leading the MVP race if Cincinnati was at .500. Burrow is having his best season creating plays off-script and his connection with Ja'Marr Chase is borderline unstoppable.

The Cowboys will need all hands on deck in their secondary. This game will hinge on how Dallas performs in the back end of its defense. Unfortunately, the defensive backfield has been - and continues to be - ravaged by injuries.

Not only is Trevon Diggs banged up, but the ascending Josh Butler is out for the season with a torn ACL suffered in the Thanksgiving win. Furthermore, rookie Caelen Carson was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, so Mike Zimmer is running out of bodies.

Amid the injury crisis, the Cowboys have made a pair of signings, though they won't do much - if anything - to move the needle.

Cowboys sign DBs Troy Pride, Dee Delaney to the practice squad

The Cowboys announced they signed former Notre Dame standout Troy Pride and Dee Delaney, who went undrafted out of Miami in 2018.

Dallas has a penchant for finding diamonds in the rough. Both Butler and Amani Oruwariye, who had his 21-day practice window opened on Wednesday, were terrific pickups. It is also hard to expect the front office to find a needle-moving player off the street in December.

With that said, the Commanders just cut 2023 first-round pick Emmanuel Forbes. The Cowboys allowed the Rams to swoop in and claim him despite being higher in the waiver order.

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Pride and Delaney both have not played a snap of football in 2024. Pride has played just one snap since the 2020 season, and it came on special teams. He suffered a torn ACL in the 2021 preseason and has since spent time on the Saints, Raiders and Texans' practice squads. Hard to imagine Pride making any kind of impact over the final five games.

Delaney at least appeared in 17 games last season with the Buccaneers. He only started two games, but held up well in coverage. He posted a 67.7 coverage grade to go with two interceptions, five passes defended and a 51.5 passer rating allowed on 27 targets, per PFF.

Delaney has tremendous ball skills, but his struggles defending the run and poor tackling make him a questionable fit with Mike Zimmer. His 40.4 run-defense grade ranked 94th out of 99 qualified safeties. He also ranked 85th with seven missed tackles and 83rd with a 20.3% missed tackle rate.

While Delaney can play safety and cornerback, he doesn't stand a chance of getting elevated if he doesn't prove in practice to be an adequate tackler.

With established vets like Patrick Peterson, Jerry Jacobs and Brandon Facyson all available, the Cowboys undoubtedly let some meat on the bone with these signings.

Surprise, surprise.

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