Royce Freeman left with jersey number that several Cowboys teammates didn't want
By Jason Reed
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The Dallas Cowboys running back room is one of the most concerning areas of the roster heading into 2024 training camp. Reuniting with Ezekiel Elliott was great and all but the Cowboys do not have the same concrete rushing game that the team has had in previous years.
One of the new backs who Dallas welcomed into the fold to help in 2024 is Royce Freeman. Freeman has bounced around the last three years after starting his career with the Denver Broncos and has played for four different teams in that timeframe.
There is no guarantee that Freeman even makes the roster but he could still have a positive impact on the team. If he does, he will end up having a positive impact wearing a number that nobody else on the roster seemingly wants to wear: 27.
The #Cowboys have a Rolls-Royce that’s ready to be taken out of the garage for the season 🤟
— Brandon Loree (@Brandoniswrite) July 11, 2024
(📸: @rolls_royce28 on IG) pic.twitter.com/GGdSEB7wja
Royce Freeman will wear No. 27 with the Dallas Cowboys
Freeman has worn four different numbers in his five-year NFL career and No. 27 is not one of them. This will be the first time he has worn the number in his career (even dating back to college) and it comes on a team with several active players who turned the number away.
Rarely does someone pick a number that has been donned by several of his new teammates but that is exactly what Freeman did. Jourdan Lewis, Trevon Diggs and Jayron Kearse are the last three players to wear the number and each player ended up switching it out.
Lewis wore the number his first three years in the league before switching to No. 26. After a brief stint with 26, Lewis made another switch to what he is wearing today: No. 2.
Diggs took over No. 27 when Lewis made the switch heading into the 202 season. He lasted an even shorter time with the number as he only wore No. 27 during his rookie year. After that, Diggs switched to No. 7, which he is still wearing today.
Kearse then continued the trend and picked up the number in 2021. He spent two years wearing the number before becoming No. 1 for the 2023 season. Kearse is still a free agent and No. 1 has been given to Jalen Tolbert.
All of this is to make one simple point that most Cowboys fans probably did not even need to hear anyway: don't buy any Freeman jerseys this season as history tells us it won't last long. And for that matter, don't buy any jerseys in the future with the No. 27 as it will likely be switched out for another number if the player is any good.
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