Cowboys news: Don’t forget that Michael Bennett makes his Dallas debut vs. Giants

Report: Cowboys and Michael Bennett restructure deal, defensive end will be free agent after 2019 - RJ Ochoa- Blogging The Boys
News on the newest Cowboy, Michael Bennett.

It’s possible that this was part of what Bennett wanted when he found out that he was being traded in the first place. Dallas is his third team since the 2018 season began (the Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, and now Cowboys), it figures that he would want to be able to establish some stability of his own choosing.

As NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero notes, it was the Patriots who already paid Bennett a hefty sum this season, so that’s good news from a business standpoint. Hopefully Bennett proves to be a worthy addition to the defense to the point that the Cowboys consider re-signing him in 2020. It’s possible that they could move on from Tyrone Crawford as well and since his injury was part of the reason they went to trade for Bennett, it figures that that position would be one of need for them in the offseason.

Michael Bennett restructures deal as part of Cowboys trade, will reportedly become free agent after 2019 - Jared Dubin-CBSSports.com
Michael Bennett had two years remaining on his deal, but will now hit the market this offseason due to restructure with the Cowboys.

According to a report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Bennett restructured his contract as part of the trade to Dallas, and will become a free agent at the end of the season. Per Pelissero, Bennett can earn close to $2 million in base salary and active roster bonuses over the final nine games of Dallas’ season, plus an additional $750,000 in possible incentives.

Bennett was traded from the Eagles to the Patriots this offseason, when he had two years left on the three-year $31.5 million contract extension he signed with the Seahawks back in 2016. (He’d been traded from Seattle to Philly before the 2018 season.) As part of the trade to the Cowboys, the final year of that three-year extension was voided, which will allow Bennett to hit the market when the season is over.

Writer’s Blocks: Cowboys' pass rush could be scary with addition of Michael Bennett- David Helman - DallasCowboys.com
Forget Halloween, you know what’s really scary? The thought of Michael Bennett joining the Cowboys' pass rush.

3. It feels like old news at this point, but the Cowboys’ pass rush has the potential to be pretty scary with Michael Bennett joining the mix.

We’ve covered the cost of the trade and Bennett’s move from New England, but it’s hard to get a read on his time with the Patriots. Instead, I went back and looked at the role he played for Philadelphia in 2018.

Bennett started 10 games for the Eagles in their 4-3 scheme last year, and he played an impressive 69% of their defensive snaps. It was a really nice effort on his part, as he put up 34 tackles and nine sacks.

I have a hard time imagining he’ll carve out such a large role here, given the presence of DeMarcus Lawrence and Robert Quinn. The Cowboys’ starters are both playing roughly 64% of the defensive snaps, and they’re making the most of them. Quinn has an absurd six games in five games, while Lawrence has 3.5 sacks and has two of this team’s nine takeaways.

There’s bound to be a way for Bennett to carve out a role. Kerry Hyder has been great rotating in with Lawrence this season, but we haven’t seen anyone else step up on the opposite side.

Between that and Bennett’s ability to move inside to defensive tackle, I’m hopeful this coaching staff can find a 35% snap count, give or take. If they can do that, I think the production will come.

Even without Jamal Adams, Cowboys show they're all-in on 2019 - Todd Archer- ESPN
Jerry Jones says the moves made by the Cowboys all revolve around staying in the hunt and being aggressive this season.

“I think that we have the potential,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “I don’t think that the way we’ve played so far will get us there on balance, the good and the bad. Where we are this morning with our health and where we are with how we can play as you go through the position groups, as you go through what we’ve put together relative to how we’re playing defense, our strategies, just our approach. And I look at the competition -- yeah, I think we’ve got a chance to get in the playoffs and if we do that and we’re healthy, I think we’ve got a chance to advance.”

Jones said all of this knowing the Cowboys (4-3) were making a play for New York Jets safety Jamal Adams. The teams had talks the day before the 4 p.m. ET deadline and were in communication up until the final moments.

Cowboys missed out on Jamal Adams, but the defense was always good enough to get Dallas where it wants to go-Jean-Jacques-Taylor- SportsdayDFW
The Cowboys defense would have welcomed Jamal Adams but it's still a solid defense without him.

This team, especially this defense, is good enough to do that.

To do so, it must play better. This ain’t complicated.

The Cowboys’ defense has played two games worthy of its preseason hype.

It held New Orleans to 266 yards and four field goals in a 12-10 loss and limited Philadelphia to 95 first-half yards while jumping out to a 37-10 win.

It had five turnovers in the first six games before getting four against Philadelphia. Its 17 sacks are tied for 20th in the NFL.

Cowboys add defensive back D.J. White to practice squad after losing Michael Jackson- Tony Thompson- Cowboys Wire
The Dallas Cowboys sign cornerback D.J. White to their practice squad after the departure of Michael Jackson Sr.

The roster churning has begun. When the poaching of a team’s roster begins in the NFL, there’s only one thing left to do and that’s go hunting for more players.

When defensive back Michael Jackson Sr. was signed away from the Dallas practice squad on Wednesday, a spot opened up. It’s been filled by cornerback D.J. White of Georgia Tech who has spent time with five different teams in his short NFL tenure.

His NFL journey began with the Kansas City Chiefs where he was a sixth-round draft pick in 2016. He spent the majority of the year as a special teams contributor, something any down the roster defensive back is expected. The Indianapolis Colts claimed him off of waivers in 2017 but did nothing of note before heading to two division rivals, the Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles for a cup of coffee.

Three reasons the Cowboys missing out on Jamal Adams could end up being a blessing in disguise -DannyPhantom- Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys did not offer the New York Jets enough to part with Jamal Adams, but that’s okay.

2. Draft capital is precious

Do you love Amari Cooper? Do you like having La’el Collins around for a while? Raise your hand if Dak Prescott is the quarterback you want leading this Cowboys football team. If you’re like me, then all of these things appeal to you and it should bring you great satisfaction that those players will be wearing the star for years to come. Sure, Prescott and Cooper haven’t signed new deals yet, but that’s just a formality. It’s going to happen.

Many feel the Cowboys have nothing to worry about when it comes to keeping their stars together for the long haul. They’ll make it happen; however all of that is predicated on the fact that they can continue to replenish talent through the draft. For the Cowboys to be able to afford to live so lavishly and retain all these great players, it means they absolutely must find quality players who can play on dirt-cheap, cap-friendly rookie deals. And guess what? The Cowboys are great at picking players.

Antwaun Woods Says His Mistake “Won’t Happen Again”- Nick Eatman- DallasCowboys.com

Cowboys defensive tackle Antwaun Woods knows he made a mistake by being late for meetings, he vows to never let it happen again after he was sent home by Jason Garrett.

Head coach Jason Garrett confirmed on Thursday that both Woods and rookie Trysten Hill were late for meetings on Tuesday and then sent home for the rest of the day, unable to practice with the team.

“It was a mistake. It won’t happen again,” Woods said on Thursday in the locker room. “I respect Coach Garrett for his decision. Everyone needs to be held accountable.”

Hill, who has been active for just four of seven games this year, was unavailable for comment during Thursday’s open locker room period for the media.

Trysten Hill sent home, was caught sleeping in Cowboys meeting, late for other meeting -Clarence Hill- Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The disappointment of Cowboys DT Trysten Hill has reached an embarrassing low. He was called out for sleeping in a meeting with NBA legend Isiah Thomas last Thursday and was sent home for being late on Tuesday.

It’s certainly not a good look for either of them to be late and sent home when the Cowboys are trying to build for the second-half stretch and push to the playoffs beginning with Monday’s game against the New York Giants.

But Woods is a starter and has some sweat equity with the Cowboys.

He apologized for being late for only the second time in the last nine years of playing football dating to college at USC and said it won’t happen again It can’t happen at all for Hill, especially after embarrassing the organization by being called out by Thomas.

It was a serious moment and there was no laughter, per a source. It’s a continued pattern of disappointment for Hill since being taken in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft for his supposed potential as a disruptive pass rusher.

Hill has struggled since the start of training camp and has had minimal impact through the first seven games. He has played in just four games and has one tackle.

BTB Podcast

The Michael Bennett trade got a new wrinkle on Thursday. We discussed on the latest episode of The Ocho.

Make sure that you never miss an episode from Blogging The Boys by subscribing to the Blogging The Boys podcast feed!

Here’s how Cowboys fans are feeling entering Week 9.