IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys are already churning the roster and it's still mid-May.
But to add some depth and perhaps some competition to the running back position, the Cowboys added veteran Ryan Williams, officially signing the fourth-year pro on Monday. Williams, the 38th overall pick of the Cardinals in 2011, has battled through injuries in his three years in Arizona. But after an impressive workout Saturday at Valley Ranch in between rookie minicamp practices, the Cowboys agreed to sign him.
In doing so, the Cowboys waived running back Glasco Martin, an undrafted rookie from Baylor. Martin's status with the club was shaky all along considering he was the only player among the 24 undrafted rookies not to get a signing bonus.
In the minicamp, he competed with fellow undrafted rookie Ben Malena of Texas A&M, along with two other running backs (Josh Harris and Jyruss Edwards) on a tryout basis.
Martin was more of the power back at Baylor, where he rushed for 509 yards and seven touchdowns through an injury-riddled senior season. In 2012, Martin rushed for 889 yards and 15 touchdowns. [embedded_ad]
As for Williams, the Cowboys are hoping to get something close to the player that was drafted early in the second round just three years ago.
"We just think he's a good football player. He was a guy we regarded very highly coming out in the draft," coach Jason Garrett said at a charity event Sunday evening in Grapevine. "He's someone that we watched him on tape. He played mostly in 2012 before he hurt his shoulder. He looks like the back that we saw coming out of school. We did our due diligence on him as a guy and we feel like you bring a guy like that in to compete at the running back spot, it's good for our team."
Williams joins a running back group led by DeMarco Murray, who became the first Cowboys' back since 2006 to rush for 1,000 yards. Murray made the Pro Bowl and scored the game-winning touchdown to cap off his best season of his career.
Lance Dunbar and Joseph Randle should also compete for reps along with Williams, who has just 58 career rushing attempts for 165 yards in just five games played.
