This year NFL teams can only bring 80 players to training camp; in previous years there were roster exemptions teams could use to have more than the allowed limit.
Today the Cowboys released some players in order to get below the limit as the team prepares for training camp next month.
The Cowboys have cut four players, leaving the roster at 79, which gives them a chance to add a player before training camp begins next month in Oxnard, Calif.
The Cowboys released cornerbacks Jerron Wishom and Justin Phinisee as well as undrafted free agents Brandon Hale,a guard from Grand Prairie, linebacker Alain Karatepeyan and wide receiver Joe West.
Dallas Cowboys fans and the local media have realized how good Terence Newman is from the moment he started playing in the NFL. Unfortunately, the rest of the country was a bit slow to catch on. Newman has never been very flashy, a result from him not being much of a risk taker, and he just didn't get the Sportscenter coverage other playmakers around the league did. Yet his solid play and consistency over the years finally earned him national attention last year and Newman is intent on being recognized as the best cornerback in the league.
"I like it when people say I'm not the best; that's really OK," Newman said. "I'd say Champ is the best, but even he has his flaws like the rest of us. I'm not worried about people calling me the best now. But when I'm done playing, I don't want there to be any discussion about it. When my career is done, I don't want to be just mentioned. I want the discussion to end right there, with me. That's one of my biggest goals. I can achieve it."
He also says that while a lot of the attention this offseason has been on the addition of Adam Jones to the team, if Jones wants to be the best on the team he is going to have to earn it.
"We talk, he's a good guy and I gave him some of my cleats that he liked," Newman said of Jones. "He's going to be great for us. He definitely gets to work like I do. But the best corner on the team? He's got to take that away from me because right now I am."
That's what I like to hear. Competition in practice leads to success on the field.
And Newman also had this great quote about the difference between Bill Parcells and Wade Phillips.
"Bill Parcells used to ask me what I was doing with my money. He used to ask me was I still talking to my college coaches. He would ask about my family. Coach Phillips is that kind of person. They are two totally different coaches but in many ways the same coach. The styles are different but what they want out of players is exactly the same. They have different paths to getting there. Coach Parcells was a lot more gruff with guys and Coach Phillips doesn't do that -- unless he has to. Different but so much the same. Driven."
Leonard Davis signed as a free agent with the Cowboys last year and many around the league saw him somewhat as a question mark. He was a first round draft pick whom many had labeled a bust during his time in Arizona. Davis came to the Cowboys and anchored one of the best offensive lines in the league while being named to his first Pro Bowl. He doesn't want to stop there either.
"I am not satisfied by what I did last year," Davis said. "My goal is to be the best, not just at my position but the best in the league. I am going to work to get better."
He credits the change in atmosphere in Dallas as a big reason for his success last year.
"It’s nice," said Davis, who left Wednesday’s afternoon practice with cramps and did not return. "It’s definitely nice. Obviously it helps when you win. But the atmosphere here is so different than Arizona. We had the talent to win in Arizona, but the atmosphere was not about winning. Everybody has the right mentality here, and everybody is buying in."
Isaiah Stanback is working hard on the transition to wide receiver.