'Special for Me': Cowboys EXCLUSIVE: Longhorns Ex Malik Jefferson Signs with Dallas

Jefferson, 25, got a tryout with his hometown Cowboys last week, and the Bengals third-round pick in 2018 coming out of the University of Texas obviously impressed.

FRISCO - It is the opinion of the Dallas Cowboys that they might have one of the "most athletic linebacker rooms'' in the NFL.

It is the opinion of Malik Jefferson - who tells us on Thursday morning that he's signed with the Cowboys - that he might be able to help.

"I've been in a few situations in the NFL, but this has a chance to be a special one for me,'' Jefferson tells CowboysSI.com. "My full focus is on football. I know some of the guys here already and I think I can contribute.''

Jefferson, 25, got a tryout with his hometown Cowboys last week, and the Bengals third-round pick in 2018 coming out of the University of Texas obviously impressed.

He'll now join a linebackers room led by the stellar Micah Parsons as he works to find a way to stick in Dallas after mostly practice-squad stints as a member of six different teams in four years.

The former Texas Longhorns standout is from Mesquite, where he was among the best high school players in the country, and he was a Freshman All-American in Austin as well. At 6-2, 236, he could in theory be a prospect to help on special teams, or at least another add to the practice squad.

To make room for Jefferson, Cowboys released running back JaQuan Hardy, mostly a practice-squadder from a year ago.

The Colts most recently cut Jefferson in May, and he's got just 13 NFL snaps to his credit. The Cowboys, meanwhile, boast among their linebackers one of the league's brightest young stars in Parsons, also re-signed starter and former first-rounder Leighton Vander Esch, and expect young Jabril Cox to be healthy enough to participate at the start of training camp in Oxnard.

"Wherever they want me to fit in, that's what I'll try to do,'' Jefferson tells us. "The part about playing for my hometown team is great. But my single focus is going to be all about football. I appreciate Dallas giving me this chance, and I'm going to do my best to take advantage of it.''

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