Cowboys rookie minicamp: More than 40 players likely to participate next weekend

Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett has repeatedly referred to talent acquisition as a process that does not start and end on any specific date but rather is a year-round process. The talent acquisition process for the Dallas Cowboys did not end with the draft, nor did it end with the signing of 18 college free agents. The Cowboys will be inviting additional players on a tryout basis for their rookie minicamp starting on Friday.

Over the years, the Cowboys have brought in a varying number of players for tryouts during rookie minicamp. In 2013, the team brought in 14 players for a tryout, a year later they brought in 15. In 2015, they had tryouts with a staggering 25 players, but brought that number down to 9 players in 2016 and 8 in 2017.

Last year, the Cowboys later signed three of their eight tryout players (OT Dan Skipper, TE M.J. McFarland, and DE Darnell Leslie), though only one (Skipper) eventually made the practice squad, if only for a few weeks.

We don't yet know how many tryout players they'll bring in this year, but it's probably going to be a good dozen or so players.

In total, the Cowboys will likely bring in more than 40 players for rookie minicamp.

Here are the likely participants at minicamp:

Draft picks (9): LB Leighton Vander Esch, OT Connor Williams, WR Michael Gallup, DE Dorance Armstrong, TE Dalton Schultz, QB Mike White, LB Chris Covington LB, WR Cedric Wilson, RB Bo Scarbrough.

Eligible Non-Rookies (5): These are players who’ve been on an active NFL roster for less than three games. On the current squad, that would apply to RB Tre’von Johnson, CB Marquez White, WR Lance Lenoir, WR K.D. Cannon, and OT Jarron Jones. In previous years, the Cowboys often included these non-rookies, but have occasionally also opted not to include the in rookie minicamp.

Undrafted Free Agents (18): TE David Wells, S Kameron Kelly, LB Joel Lanning, DT DeQuinton Osborne, CB Donovan Olumba, CB Charvarius Ward, DE James Hearns, OL Jake Campos, OL Jashon Robertson, QB Dalton Sturm, WR Marchie Murdock, WR Malik Earl, RB Jordan Chunn, OL Bryce Johnson, S Kyle Queiro, LB Ed Shockley, FS Tyree Robinson, DE Austin Larkin.

Tryout players (ca. 12): We'll keep this list updated as the names come in.

Others (1): Free agent OG Dustin Stanton, who last participated in the Cincinnati training camp last year.