The NFL season is here. Don't miss any of the action with our daily updates: news, notes and more throughout the Cowboys' off-season. Presented by Sleep Number
May 28 Updates
11:50 a.m. – It's been just over a month since the Cowboys drafted CeeDee Lamb and their seven-man class, and head coach Mike McCarthy likes the progress the draft picks and undrafted rookies have made in the voluntary virtual offseason program.
"I like where they are," McCarthy said. "We had a rookie orientation two weeks after the draft and then we able to roll the rookies right into the veteran meetings and then continue with the afternoon meetings with the rookies. So at the end of last week we felt we had the rookies kind of caught up with where the veterans as far as what we're installing.
"The afternoon meetings, which is purely the rookies, has been very beneficial. We've really been exercising the importance from a football perspective on scheme, communication and make sure they have a clear vision of their job responsibilities. But we've also spent a lot of time with our rookies as far as player engagement. We've had some speakers and there's continuing education that always goes on there. We've been making a lot of progress there."
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May 21 Updates
4:45 p.m. – Finally, some clarification from the new No. 88.
From the time he chose the Cowboys' iconic number, there's been speculation about how CeeDee Lamb wound up in No. 88. The star receiver initially chose No. 10 the night the Cowboys selected him in the first round of the NFL draft.
It caused quite a stir when he instead chose No. 88 – the number won by franchise legends Drew Pearson, Michael Irvin and Dez Bryant.
In an interview Thursday with 105.3 FM The Fan in Dallas, Lamb explained his rationale for his new number.
"I had the option of picking 10 or 88, and I picked 10," he said. "Then, kind of going more in depth with the situation, understanding the tradition and how much that number means to this organization and how much of a foundation that number holds – the great legends before me and what they've done with that number. It was kind of like, why not keep the tradition going? Obviously, they didn't retire that number for a reason, so just trying to keep the legacy of 88 going in Dallas."
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9:31 a.m. – When guard Zack Martin joined the Cowboys in 2014, Travis Frederick helped him transition to the league. The two offensive linemen became good friends and perennial Pro Bowlers.
With Frederick retiring, the Cowboys drafted another former Wisconsin center – Tyler Biadasz – in the fourth round this year. Martin is excited to work with Biadasz when the team is able to get back on the field together. Right now, NFL offseason programs are in a virtual setting due to the nation's COVID-19 crisis.
"I've gotten a chance to just text him a little bit and hear him in the meetings," Martin said via conference call. "But I'm looking forward to, whenever we do get back together, to kind of bringing him along and helping him out along the way."
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2:49 p.m. – The NFL on Tuesday took steps toward fostering more diversity and career advancement opportunities in the league for minorities and women.
The league announced that teams can no longer block an assistant coach the opportunity to interview with a new team for "a bona fide Offensive Coordinator, Defensive Coordinator, or Special Teams Coordinator position." In the past, for example, a position coach under contract could only interview elsewhere for a head coaching vacancy. A "non-high-level/non-secondary football executive" also cannot be denied the chance to interview for a "bona fide Assistant General Manager position."
Furthermore, the league has made enhancements to the Rooney Rule, requiring teams to interview at least two external minority candidates for head coach vacancies; at least one minority candidate for any of the three coordinator vacancies (offensive, defensive, special teams); and at least one external minority candidate for a senior football operations or general manager opening.
This week's league meetings are taking place in a virtual format. The annual March meetings in Palm Beach were canceled due to the nation's COVID-19 crisis.
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May 13 Updates
12:29 p.m. – The NFL has extended the "virtual" offseason program through May 29, according to NFL Media and reports.
Team facilities remain closed around the league as part of nationwide social distancing efforts during the COVID-19 crisis. According to the league memo obtained by NFL Media, all offseason workout programs must conclude by June 26. It remains to be seen if facilities will reopen before then. Tentatively, May 15 was the league's original end date for the virtual phase.
Cowboys veteran players began the virtual voluntary offseason program on April 20, and the new rookie class participated in a three-day virtual rookie minicamp last Friday-Sunday.
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May 12 Updates
12:01 p.m. – Like the rest of the league, the Cowboys continue to press forward with an altered offseason schedule due to the nation's COVID-19 crisis.
The veterans began a 'virtual' voluntary offseason program on April 20, and Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told NFL Network that the club scheduled a three-day virtual rookie minicamp last Friday through Sunday. Normally, the rookies would get acclimated at The Star in Frisco after the draft, but team facilities currently are closed around the league.
"We're making hay here and taking the steps that we need to do right now," McCarthy said. "I feel really good about the amount of football we've been able to get through with our current veterans."
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May 8 Updates
11:02 a.m. – As durable as Dak Prescott has been in his first four years as the Cowboys' starting quarterback – he has made all 67 possible starts, counting playoffs – it's worth having a Pro Bowl-caliber reserve at the game's most important position if you can find one.
That was the Cowboys' thought process in signing Andy Dalton to replace Cooper Rush as Prescott's primary backup, team chief operating officer Stephen Jones said.
"I just think it was the right fit for him with his family living right here, knowing that the free agency market was pretty much worked through," Jones told SiriusXM NFL Radio. "He just thought our situation was a great one for him. And as I said, you can certainly sleep good at night when you've got a proven winner, that if something did happen – and we all know our game – if something did happen to Dak, that he can step in win some big games for you, which he's done year in and year out with the Bengals."
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May 5 Updates
4:40 p.m. – The Giants have claimed quarterback Cooper Rush off waivers from the Cowboys.
The Cowboys released Rush on Monday after reaching a deal with three-time Pro Bowler Andy Dalton to be Dak Prescott's backup.
Rush was the full-time No. 2 quarterback in Dallas the last two seasons. In New York he'll be reunited with former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, who's now the Giants' offensive coordinator.
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April 30 Updates
10:49 a.m. – The Cowboys have waived linebacker Chris Covington and defensive back D.J. White.
Covington, a sixth-round draft pick in 2018, spent most of last season on the practice squad. He appeared in three games in December with Leighton Vander Esch (neck) injured.
White spent the final two months of last season on the practice squad. He was signed to the Reserve/Future list after the season.
With two open spots, the Cowboys officially signed cornerback Daryl Worley and long snapper Joe Fortunato, who previously spent time with the Colts. Long-time long snapper L.P. Ladouceur is back for a 16th season with the Cowboys, but Fortunato provides some depth on the 90-man roster.
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April 28 Updates
(1:17 p.m.) — Christian Covington has signed with the Broncos on a one-year deal that could pay him up to $1.7 million next year.
After the Cowboys landed Neville Gallimore in the third round of last weekend's NFL Draft, there isn't a lot of room left for available defensive tackles. Before the draft, Covington had a chance to return to the Cowboys, who had signed Dontari Poe and Gerald McCoy in the offseason. Antwaun Woods is an exclusive rights free agent and should return to the roster along with Trysten Hill.
Last year, his only season in Dallas, Covington played in all 16 games, recording 25 tackles with one sack.
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2:33 p.m.— Former Cowboys safety Kavon Frazier has signed with the Dolphins.
Miami announced the move Tuesday. Frazier, a sixth-round pick by Dallas in 2016, was a reserve safety and core special teams player for the Cowboys. A pectoral injury limited him to four games last season.
