Cowboys Roster Moves: More Players For The Trenches

DallasCowboys.com is reporting that the Cowboys added two more players to their reserve/future list today. Defensive tackle Nick Hayden and guard Charlie Bryant are the 20th and 21st players respectively that have signed a futures contract so far this offseason.

It's no secret that the Cowboys have needs along both lines, and if nothing else, throwing more bodies into the mix improves the Cowboys' chances of perhaps finding a player or two who can stick.

DT Nick Hayden was drafted by Carolina in the sixth round (181st overall) in 2008 and played 28 games, including 13 starts, for the Panthers from 2008-10. He spent 2011 with the Bengals before reaching an injury settlement after an ankle injury at the end of training camp in 2012.

The 6-4, 300-pound Hayden joins a group of defensive tackles that are deep in quantity but may be thin in quality. The status of Jay Ratliff and Josh Brent is up in the air, and it's not clear how much Sean Lissemore, Ben Bass and Rob Calloway can bring to the table. Hayden joins three other DTs already signed to futures contracts (Brian Price, Monte Taylor and Ikponmwosa Igbinosun).

Charlie Bryant joined the Chargers in 2011 as a 6-6 (or 6-8; reports vary), 320-pound defensive tackle out of Memphis, where he was a teammate of Cowboys guard Ronald Leary. Bryant played defensive tackle in college, but was moved from defensive lineman to offensive lineman six games into his senior season. He spent his first training camp with the Chargers as a defensive tackle before they too moved him to offensive tackle and signed him to their practice squad. Bryant has never played in a regular season game NFL game. The mothership writes that the Cowboys are signing him as a guard and hoping for some positional versatility.

Like Hayden, Bryant joins a position group that has seen a number of recent signings: OG Ray Dominguez, OT Aderious Simmons and OT Darrion Weems were all recent additions to the Cowboys.