IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys stayed active after the weekend cuts by trading former seventh-round pick Sean Lissemore to the Chargers on Sunday and claiming linebacker Kyle Bosworth off waivers.
The interior of the defensive line took a hit with the trade of Lissemore, who signed a three-year extension worth $7.17 million in September 2012 when the Cowboys' defense ran the 3-4 scheme. He was traded for a 2015 seventh-round pick.
All six of Lissemore's starts since joining the Cowboys in 2010 came last season. He's admitted the switch to the new 4-3 has been a tough transition.
"I can definitely play in this defense, it's just taking a little bit to transition," Lissemore said after training camp. "It's a little bit different than last year, playing the 3-4 defense, kind of two-gapping it. It's kind of forgetting everything I've learned for the past three years and training myself to do something different."
Lissemore, who suffered a concussion in the preseason finale, will be going back to the 3-4 scheme in San Diego. He was slated as a backup in Dallas after a strong offseason from Nick Hayden, who's played on the interior next to Jason Hatcher.
The Cowboys used their open spot on the roster after trading Lissemore to claim Bosworth off waivers from the Giants. Bosworth, a local product who played high school football at Plano West, played 25 games the last two seasons with the Jaguars after going undrafted in 2010 out of UCLA. [embedded_ad]
Dallas elected not to grab a defensive lineman early Sunday, despite Jay Ratliff going on the Physically Unable to Perform list and Anthony Spencer still slowly recovering from knee surgery.
That means they'll rely on Ben Bass, Kyle Wilber, George Selvie and Landon Cohen for depth behind starters Spencer, Hatcher, Hayden and DeMarcus Ware, unless they make another move on the waiver wire.
Lissemore's trade is the second the Cowboys have made since Saturday's cuts. They placed guard Nate Livings on injured reserve as well, which opened up a spot on the roster for Dallas to trade for Kansas City linebacker Edgar Jones. The Cowboys sent over next year's sixth-round pick and also got a seventh-round pick in that deal.
