Cowboys Audition DE Ryan Delair
Former Panthers defensive end Ryan Delaire, who was out of football last year as he recovered from a torn ACL, worked out for the Cowboys on Friday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. 
Delaire played 139 defensive snaps for the Panthers in 2016 in between two separate stints on injured reserve. In six games, Delaire managed five tackles, one sack, and one pass defensed.
Last year, he auditioned for the Giants and 49ers, but did not sign with either club. He also discussed a late-season deal with the Eagles in December, but his knee injury prevented him from passing their physical.
The Cowboys made one key defensive end depth signing this week when they inked another ex-Panther, Kony Ealy, to a low-cost one-year deal. If he signs with the Cowboys, Delaire is likely looking at an even cheaper deal with low/no guarantees.
Cowboys To Sign DE Kony Ealy
The Cowboys have agreed to terms with defensive end Kony Ealy on a one-year deal, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). Ealy spent last season with the Jets. 
Ealy met with Dallas on Tuesday and agreed to terms roughly 48 hours later. He’ll now help to back up starters Demarcus Lawrence and Tyrone Crawford, filling a role previously filled by Benson Mayowa.
Ealy, 26, was traded from the Panthers to the Patriots last offseason, but was cut by New England in the summer. The Jets picked him up him off of waivers, but the Cowboys also had a claim in on him. He went on to put together a solid season in New York, even though his stat line doesn’t jump off of the page.
For his work last year, Pro Football Focus rated him as the No. 61 edge defender in the league, which actually placed him ahead of former teammate Julius Peppers, despite Peppers racking up eleven sacks.
East Notes: Dolphins, Pouncey, Cowboys
A look at some items out of the AFC and NFC East:
- The Dolphins have replaced Mike Pouncey with Daniel Kilgore, but they do not believe that they have lost an elite center. “Mike was maybe the best or second-best center in the league two or three years ago,” a team source told Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald. Kilgore, they feel, will give Miami a bump in run blocking, but not necessarily in pass protection. He also brings more size to the position and is something of an iron addict whereas Pouncey was never an enthusiastic weight room guy.
- New Dolphins defensive end Robert Quinn says he was “pretty much shocked, honestly” upon learning that he had been traded from the Rams to the Dolphins (Twitter links via Salguero). “It’s like this, this is the first time I’ve been traded. You commit yourself to someone and you have your family turn their back on you,” Quinn said. Quinn, 28 in May, racked up 8.5 sacks in 15 games for L.A. last season. He has 62.5 career sacks to his credit, dating back to 2011. The Bucs and Browns also explored trades for Quinn before he was shipped to Miami.
- Defensive end Kony Ealy and the Cowboys remain in talks, Clarence Hill of the Star Telegram tweets. However, it might take a couple of days before a decision is made.
NFL Draft Rumors: Vander Esch, Steelers, Bills
The latest NFL Draft news:
- Linked to Leighton Vander Esch for several weeks this offseason, the Steelers met with the Boise State outside linebacker on Monday night, Tony Pauline of Draft Analyst reports. Pittsburgh has used first-round picks on either inside or outside ‘backers in four of its past five drafts. Three of those players remain on the team, but only two will be able to play this season. Ryan Shazier has been declared out as he attempts to recover from his frightening spine injury. Pauline wrote in March that Vander Esch won’t get past Pittsburgh at No. 28.
- Next up for Vander Esch met the Cowboys on Wednesday morning, James Palmer of NFL.com tweets. After that, he has the Cardinals and every team picking between No. 12 to No. 24, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Aside from the aforementioned clubs, the teams picking from No. 12-24 are the Bills (twice), Redskins, Packers, Ravens, Chargers, Seahawks, Lions, Bengals, Bills, Patriots, and Panthers.
- LSU pass-rusher Arden Key met with the Saints and Lions before his pro day on Wednesday and will visit with the Bengals on Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Due to injuries, key only started in eight games last year, but he still finished out with 33 tackles, 5.5 for loss, four sacks, and a forced fumble. He is widely projected to be a first round pick later this month.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/4/18
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Chicago Bears
- Re-signed: WR Josh Bellamy (RFA)
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: K/P Brett Maher
- Waived: WR Brian Brown
Detroit Lions
- Waived: QB Alek Torgersen
Indianapolis Colts
- Re-signed: OL Jeremy Vujnovich (ERFA)
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: T Roubbens Joseph
- Waived: QB Brandon Doughty
Cowboys Arrange Several Pre-Draft Visits
Most of the prospects the Cowboys are planning to make part of their pre-draft visit itinerary will come through Dallas this week, with Albert Breer of SI.com reporting (on Twitter) numerous names have emerged.
Wide receivers Calvin Ridley and D.J. Moore are among those who will trek to Texas for pre-draft summits. Defensive linemen Vita Vea, Harold Landry, Da’Ron Payne and Florida’s Taven Bryan will join them, per Breer. Offensive linemen Kolton Miller (UCLA) and James Daniels (Iowa) are also on this list, as is Alabama linebacker Rashaan Evans.
Teams are allotted 30 visits before drafts, and Dallas will examine plenty of incoming NFL talent in the coming days.
Texas A&M wide receiver Christian Kirk is also on the Cowboys’ meeting list, although he is not expected to count against the 30-player maximum since he’s considered a local prospect. With Dez Bryant‘s future up in the air, the team is clearly interested in surveying what the 2018 crop looks like. Ridley, Kirk and Moore are the top three wide receivers on Daniel Jeremiah’s NFL.com draft board and the only wideouts to appear on this 50-prospect list.
Cowboys To Meet With Kony Ealy
Jets free agent defensive end Kony Ealy will meet with the Cowboys On Tuesday, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Meanwhile, he has “remained in discussions” with Gang Green over the past few weeks, Rapoport adds. 
Ealy, 26, was shipped from the Panthers to the Patriots last offseason, but was cut by New England in August. The Jets claimed him off of waivers – beating out the Cowboys with a higher waiver priority – and he put together a solid season in New York.
Ealy’s one sack and 14 total tackles don’t exactly jump off of the page, but he saw time on 451 snaps as a part of the defensive line rotation and started in four of his 15 games. For his work, Pro Football Focus rated him as the No. 61 edge defender in the NFL last year, which actually slotted him ahead of former teammate Julius Peppers, despite Peppers’ eleven sacks.
The Cowboys are set with Demarcus Lawrence and Tyrone Crawford as their starting bookends, but Ealy could find work off of the bench in Dallas as a replacement for Benson Mayowa.
Emmanual Sanders Didn't See Physicality From Cowboys Secondary
- While speaking on the “Ben and Skin Show” on Dallas’ 105.3 FM The Fan, Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders did not speak highly on the physicality of the Cowboys’ secondary, stemming from the teams’ Week 2 matchup last season, which the Broncos won 42-17. “Honestly and truthfully, you know, what I’m going to say… I hope it’s not a shot to nobody but maybe in that game — this is what I saw, it’s the honest truth — I saw a defense that really, truly wasn’t physical. That’s what I felt when I was playing against those guys. In terms of the safeties coming down and hitting me, it’s an old term called ‘sticking your hand in the fan.’ Just unphysical. They weren’t physical at all. I’ve been in the league nine years and after that game, I felt like they were scared or something. That’s the kind of vibe that I had gotten. … I promise, this is not something I’m making up right now. I told everybody after that game that’s how I felt when I played against the Cowboys. Maybe they weren’t scared but I don’t know. … I know what a physical defense looks like and I just didn’t feel it out of that defense.”
Cowboys Don’t Have Timeline For Dez Bryant Talks
The Cowboys plan on speaking with wide receiver Dez Bryant regarding a restructuring of his deal. On Wednesday, it was reported that the Cowboys hoped to resolve the issue at some point over the next two weeks. 
The team seemed to step back from that notion Thursday.
“We haven’t put that timeline on it,” said Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones during a press conference at the team’s facility, per Nick Eatman of DallasCowboys.com. “When we get ready on a decision with Dez, we’ll make it.”
Bryant, 29, signed a five-year, $70MM extension with the Cowboys prior to the 2016 season. He’s due to have a cap hit of $16.5MM in 2018. Veteran tight end Jason Witten and center Travis Frederick have already restructured their deals this offseason to create cap space. The team added a pair of wide receivers in free agency as well in Allen Hurns and Deonte Thompson.
“We’re going to sit down and we have a lot to talk about,” Jerry Jones said at the press conference. “I don’t want to say or not say anything to imply that Dez won’t be a Dallas Cowboy.”
In related news, the Cowboys have attended the pro days for wide receivers Christian Kirk (Texas A&M), Courtland Sutton (SMU) and Calvin Ridley (Alabama), who are all projected to go in the first two rounds of the upcoming draft. The Cowboys hold the No. 19 overall pick in the upcoming draft.
Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones On Randy Gregory
Randy Gregory is laying the groundwork for his return to football, but Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is not getting his hopes up. While Jones credited the defensive end for his work to get his life back on track, he says that he is not banking on the commissioner to let him back in for 2018. 
“I am not confident [in Gregory being reinstated], but I do see where his heart is,” Jones said (via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram). “He is one the smartest people to have played this game. This is a tremendous step. He has had that same IQ since he has had these issues. That’s an issue. This is definitely a medical issue. There is no doubt in my mind about the medical. That is another campaign. It’s a pretty circuitous route. It has a lot of discretionary things to determine. There is a lot of subjectiveness. But he is doing very well. He’s got a lot to play for. He has a new baby. He has a lot going for him. He is very astute about knowing that. He has to do what a lot of us have had to do and that is to do better at 24 and 25 than when you were 20.”
Jones offered support for Gregory on a personal and professional level noting that he is “really a good person,” and “one helluva football player.” Still, Jones knows that the reinstatement process is somewhat subjective. His own personal relationship with Roger Goodell might not help matters either.
The Cowboys will start Demarcus Lawrence and Tyrone Crawford at the bookends with Taco Charlton, Charles Tapper, and Datone Jones offering support from the bench. The Cowboys have said all along that they are hoping to get Gregory back in the fold, but they are also planning for life without him in 2018. That could mean some edge rushing reinforcements next month through the draft.