Cowboys' RB moves look much better after brutal injury to former free agent target

The Dallas Cowboys were full of surprises on Tuesday. Between trading tight end Peyton Hendershot, meeting with free agent pass rusher Tyus Bowser, and keeping offensive tackle Matt Waletzko and defensive lineman Tyrus Wheat, a number of the Cowboys' decisions came out of left field.

What wasn't surprising? The running backs Dallas kept on the 53-man roster. Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle were locks to make it, but Deuce Vaughn earned a spot after an excellent preseason. Hunter Luepke made it as a RB, but he will play fullback and special teams.

By meeting with veteran Dalvin Cook, the Cowboys likely aren't done adding to their backfield. There are other RBs that got released who are better than Cook, but the front office has been remarkably stingy with how its handled the position this offseason.

Bypassing numerous targets in free agency begged to blow up in Dallas' face, but one decision in particular has aged well: not signing former Packers second-round pick AJ Dillon.

Cowboys avoided disaster by not signing RB AJ Dillon in free agency

In a surprise and unfortunate development amid Tuesday's roster crunch, the Packers placed Dillon (neck) on injured reserve and did not designate him to return. Dillon is officially out for the entire 2024 season with a stinger that he suffered between the first and second preseason games.

It's the second stinger for Dillon in as many years. It caused him to miss two games at the end of the 2023 regular season as well as the Packers' two playoff games.

It's unclear what this means for Dillon's playing career, but the Cowboys avoided a disaster by not signing the 26-year-old in March. They were reportedly in the mix for Dillon at the onset of free agency along with the Giants and Colts.

Cowboys fans weren't crazy about the prospect of adding Dillon, but his 247-pound frame and bruising running style would have been a welcome sight after how much Dallas' rushing attack struggled last year in short-yardage situations. The idea of pairing Dillon with a potential speedster in the 2024 draft was palatable, if not exciting.

Dillon ultimately agreed to a one-year deal to return to Green Bay, while the Cowboys re-upped Dowdle and signed Elliott. They surprisingly didn't draft a RB. Dalvin Cook and Miles Sanders are the only backs who have been linked with Dallas in recent months.

The Cowboys still have the worst backfield in the NFL. However, imagine the backlash they'd be receiving had Dillon been their only "big" move at the position just for him to be lost for the season before September. Fair or not (definitely not!), they wouldn't hear the end of it.

Nobody's saying that Jerry Jones and Co. deserve flowers for not signing Dillon, but maybe they were dissuaded by his neck injury. Hopefully Dillon is able to overcome this setback and get back on the gridiron in 2025.

Full coverage of Cowboys' cutdown day