The Dallas Cowboys, losers of two in a row and three of their last four, have a golden opportunity to right the ship coming out of their bye week when they take on one of the most disappointing teams of 2025, the 2-7 Las Vegas Raiders, in a Monday Night Football matchup.
But the Cowboys are taking no chances, at least with their offensive line depth, after losing a practice squad lineman on Tuesday when former Washington Commanders third round draft pick Geron Christian was given a shot at an active roster spot as the Denver Broncos swooped in and signed him away.
With the 6-foot-5, 302-pound offensive tackle now departed, the Cowboys wasted no time in replacing him with another massive lineman who plays the same tackle position. On Wednesday, Dallas signed 6-foot-4, 307-pound lineman Marcellus Johnson to their practice squad, according to the team’s transaction report.
The Cowboys’ offensive line has not been at the root of the team’s problems, but at 3-5-1 and hopes of returning to the postseason after missing out last year rapidly dwindling, Dallas cannot afford to spring any new leaks. Quarterback Dak Prescott has benefited from the third-lowest sack percentage in the NFL (4.2), going down behind the line of scrimmage just 15 times in nine games, the seventh-lowest total in the league.
Though his offensive line has largely managed to protect him from sacks, Prescott has nonetheless found himself under pressure more than he, or the Cowboys, would like. His average time-to-throw of 2.6 seconds ranks him only 19th in the NFL, among quarterbacks who have taken at least 100 snaps this season.
It would probably take a series of injuries to allow Johnson to take his turn on the active roster protecting Prescott. The difference between the 2024 undrafted free agent and his predecessor Christian is pronounced.
Where Christian has appeared in 63 NFL games, starting 25 for six different teams over seven seasons, Johnson has yet to be on the field for a single snap in game that counts. Since signing a $2.85 million, three-year contract with the New York Giants in 2024 — a contract that was terminated almost immediately in favor of a $225,000 practice squad deal — Johnson has bounced around between the practice squads of the Minnesota Vikings and Indianapolis Colts for two seasons.
When the Giants signed Johnson initially, they guaranteed $170,000 of his contract, the most they gave any UDFA in their 2024 class.
The Colts released Johnson from their practice squad on October 14, and he remained without a football home for almost a month before the Cowboys signed him on Wednesday.
At the time of the 2024 draft, one NFL insider said that he had rated Johnson as “a legitimate NFL player,” and graded him “almost as high” as his former Eastern Michigan teammate, Sidy Sow.
Sow, a 6-foot-5, 318-pound offensive lineman was drafted in 2023, in the third round, by the New England Patriots. The Patriots released Sow in August, and the 27-year-old lineman was subsequently signed to the Houston Texans‘ practice squad. The Texans elevated Sow to their active roster on November 8.
If the Dallas Cowboys look within just their own division, they can see how NFL contracts should work by looking at the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s a simple way of doing things.
When the Eagles have a great young player on their roster — someone who obviously has NFL All-Pro talent — they try and pay them. Earlier the better. When they do this, they almost always come out on top in terms of savings. You get a bargain if you cough up the cash right when you know a player has that kind of upside.
Waiting is always the ultimate killer. It kills the bottom line. It kills locker room morale. It kills any hope of winning Super Bowls.
To that end, the Cowboys seem to always wait. And they always lose. Now, they’re being put on blast for a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that says the franchise is contemplating a $29 million franchise tag for wide receiver George Pickens.
The Cowboys obtained Pickens on May 7 in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers, getting Pickens and a 2027 sixth round pick in exchange for a 2026 third round pick and 2027 fifth round pick.
Fowler has Pickens ranked as the No. 4 overall free agent in the 2026 cycle. Pickens is in the final season of the 4-year, $6.75 million rookie contract he signed in 2022.
“The Pickens experiment in Dallas has gone swimmingly,” Fowler wrote on Wednesday, November 12. “He is pacing for 1,400-plus yards and more than 10 touchdowns as the ideal counterpart to CeeDee Lamb. His immense talent — and the number of teams starved for receiver help — will drive his value … Pickens’ results with capable quarterback play around him are undeniable. (The franchise tag — which would be around $29 million — could be a backup option for Dallas.)”
To say the reaction to the Cowboys possibly franchise tagging Pickens was not favorable would be an understatement.
The smart thing to do, at this point, would be to try and lock Pickens into a long term deal — think something along the lines of a 3-year, $90 million contract extension.
The backlash from the franchise tag report didn’t focus solely on calling out the Cowboys, either. It also pointed out, like Fowler wrote, there are a lot of teams who would kill to have Pickens on their roster.
“George Pickens is one of my top Free Agent targets for the Bills,” Bills Report wrote on its official X account on November 12. “Pickens has 764 yards on 49 Receptions, and 6 TDs to go with that. At just 24 years old Pickens would likely be looking for a big 4-ish year deal. If you want a WR1, he is tough to pass on.”
“Letting George Pickens walk would be malpractice,” Sleeper Cowboys wrote on its official X account.
“George Pickens has proven to be everything the Cowboys hoped he’d be when they traded to acquire him, and the consummate team guy is eager to do whatever’s needed for the unit, as a whole, to ‘dominate’ opps,” Cowboys.com’s Patrik Walker wrote on his official X account.