Cowboys sign ex Packers safety Josh Jones to practice squad - but this transaction is about something more
FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys are attempting to be coy regarding their signing of ex Packers safety Josh Jones - "Hey, it's just to the practice squad'' - but I think it means much more than that.
The Cowboys have lost Kavon Frazier (pec surgery) for the season and have moved him to IR. That creates a vacancy on the 53-man roster. For the moment, they are elevating receiver Ventell Bryant, an undrafted rookie from Temple, to the 53, the announced thinking being that the 6-3 Bryant may be able to contribute on special teams.
But in truth, it's unlikely that Bryant will be able to contribute to the Cowboys, an all ways, as Jones can.
Dallas provided a tryout to Jones here at The Star recently, and obviously the Cowboys personnel department liked what it saw. At the time, the thinking was insurance due to safety Xavier Woods' injury. But Woods in back and he's fine. And another rookie, Donovan Wilson from Texas A&M, is getting healthy enough to be on the 46-man game-day roster.
But I believe the eventual plan for former Green Bay safety Jones is to work behind starters Woods and Jeff Heath, to battle for safety snaps with Wilson, and most of all to attempt to replicate the core special-teams work of the eliminated Frazier. (By the way: No, this isn't about Dallas wanting to "pick the brain'' of Jones for Packers intel, a concept that is largely an NFL myth.)
Jones is a former second-round pick out of North Carolina State who’s tenure as a Packer was a short one. After a time during which Jones was asking for a trade, in August, the Packers waived Jones, who had been dealing with a non-football illness. And they did so despite the fact that Jones played in 29 games in two seasons with Green Bay, starting 12 of them. He recorded 100 tackles, including three sacks, and an interception.
Whatever it was that the Packers once saw in the 6-2, 220-pound Jones, who just turned 25 -- enough to have used a premium pick on him, enough to have given a starting role to him - the Cowboys now hope to see on the practice field, especially as a special-teamer, a role he played in Green Bay.
And indeed, on Wednesday, he debuted on the field at The Star wearing No. 26 and serving on the kickoff-coverage scout team ... as did Bryant.
This is an unfortunate day for Kavon Frazier and an on-paper big day for Ventell Bryant (who to his credit caught 14 passes in the Bengals preseason). But the Dallas' transaction juggle is really about Josh Jones and what he can do ... and if he shows what he can do soon enough to vault to the 53-man roster in time for Sunday's game against his former team, the Packers.
