Shall we football? Jerry and Stephen Jones threw a wet blanket on the excitement for training camp in Monday's opening press conference, but the Dallas Cowboys have taken the field for their first practice in Oxnard. The Joneses can't take that away from us.
Before practice started, the Cowboys confirmed the signing of defensive end James Houston, a former sixth-round pick of the Lions who had eight sacks as a rookie in 2022. In a corresponding move, DE Luiji Vilain was released.
If there is one position that Dallas is loaded, it's defensive end. However, with Micah Parsons potentially not practicing until he gets a new contract, and Sam Williams possibly being limited to start camp after completing his ACL rehab, they need bodies.
At the same time, we can't help but wonder what this means for Cowboys' free agent pickup Payton Turner. Houston is undoubtedly a roster long shot, but he's had more success in the league relative to Turner.
Cowboys sign veteran DE James Houston after successful workout
A former first-round pick of the Saints, Turner's compiled just five sacks and 11 quarterback hits in four seasons. He's played in just 31 of a possible 68 games since he was drafted. He's struggled with injuries and he's never started a game in his career.
Houston's tallied nine sacks and 14 quarterback hits in three seasons. He flamed out after a scalding hot start with the Lions, but he's at least had relative success in the league. He produced eight sacks as a rookie in 2022 in just seven games.
Like Turner, Houston has had trouble staying healthy early in his career. A broken leg limited him to just 10 games in 2023 and 2024. He was active for eight games last season and managed just a single sack, which led to his release in November. He was claimed by the Browns and played 25 defensive snaps in three appearances to finish out the season.
Turner clearly has the leg up on Houston given he was signed in March. He's had more exposure to the coaching staff. He also has a first round pedigree, which the Cowboys seem to love based. However, Houston has notched a double-digit pass-run win rate in every season of his career, per PFF's John Owning.
Assuming Micah Parsons, Dante Fowler, Donovan Ezeiruaku, Sam Williams and Marshawn Kneeland are all roster locks, Turner and Houston could slug it out for the final DE spot on the 53-man roster if six ends up being the magic number.