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Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News has the latest roster update for the Dallas Cowboys:
Dallas Cowboys have signed LB Korey Toomer to their 53-man roster after he cleared waivers following cut from Seattle Seahawks, per source.
— Brandon George (@DMN_George) August 31, 2014
This is somewhat of an odd move, as the Cowboys did not put in a waiver wire claim for Toomer. Instead, Toomer went unclaimed through waivers, and the Cowboys managed to get him under contract after he had cleared waivers, perhaps because the deal, or the opportunity to play, that the Cowboys offered was more appealing to Toomer than other offers he may have had.
Toomer was originally selected by the Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL draft after he played two seasons at the University of Idaho after attending Arizona Western Junior College.
He spent 2012 on injured reserve for the Seahawks and then was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list for the entire 2013 season. Toomer has not played a single NFL down in two years, but was expected to compete for the strong-side linebacker position for the Seahawks this year.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll raved about Toomer during OTAs this year, calling him "the hottest guy in camp" one week, then calling him "the brightest guy in the whole camp" the next.
Unfortunately for Toomer, he was placed on the preseason PUP list at the start of camp with a nagging hamstring injury. By the time he came off the PUP on August 18. he had missed too much time and eventually ended up being cut.
After he was cleared, Toomer finally saw some game action, getting eight snaps against Chicago in the third preseason game, and 41 snaps against Oakland in the preseason finale. Pro Football Focus gave him a +1.3 grade for the two games, which is a better grade than any Cowboys linebacker outside of Kyle Wilber received this preseason.
Toomer has all the physical tools to play linebacker. At his pro day he ran a 4.53 forty and recorded a "Shazierian" 42-inch vertical to go with a blazing fast 4.00 20-yard shuttle.
If the Cowboys can get Toomer healthy, this could end up being a good signing, knowing full well that it's been a while since Toomer played football.
Pete Carroll on Korey Toomer earlier this offseason: pic.twitter.com/f0vmJsATwI
— Jordan Ross (@TheJordanRoss) August 31, 2014