C.J. Goodwin

Cowboys Set 53-Man Roster

The Cowboys got their roster down to 53 players today, and to get there, they cut all their backup QB options, their kicker, and their long snapper:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on reserve/NFI:

The Cowboys are currently rolling without a second QB behind Dak Prescott after the team moved on from Cooper Rush, Will Grier, and Ben DiNucci. Rush has the most experience of the group, appearing in 10 career games, including five appearances (one start) with Dallas in 2021. The 28-year-old finished last season having completed 30 of his 47 pass attempts for 422 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. The Cowboys also aren’t rostering a kicker or long snapper at the moment, something that will certainly change over the next few days.

Special teams ace C.J. Goodwin could also land back on the active roster once the dust settles. Goodwin has spent the past four seasons in Dallas, and he hasn’t missed a game over the past three years. The 32-year-old finished last season with a career-high 10 tackles.

Cowboys To Re-Sign C.J. Goodwin

The Cowboys haven’t been too active so far in free agency, but they’re now making a smaller move to keep one of their own in the fold. Dallas has agreed to terms on a new deal for cornerback/special teamer C.J. Goodwin, agent Drew Rosenhaus tells Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).

It’s a two-year deal for $3.5MM with $2MM guaranteed, Rapsheet notes. Goodwin only played 18 defensive snaps last year but is one of the team’s most important special teams players, as he played over 70 percent of the total defensive snaps. Goodwin came into the league as an UDFA with the Steelers in 2014, but he didn’t crack the field until 2016 with the Falcons.

He carved out a role as a special teamer, and even started a game on defense for Atlanta that year. The D2 product was cut by four different teams in 2018 before signing with the Cowboys off the Bengals’ practice squad, and he’s now been in Dallas the past three seasons. Getting $2MM guaranteed is a massive win for a player with his story, so we all tip our cap to him.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/7/20

Today’s minor moves:

Carolina Panthers

  • Signed: TE Colin Thompson

Dallas Cowboys

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Signed: CB Cre’Von LeBlanc

Seattle Seahawks

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/6/20

Here are Sunday’s minor moves. The players who landed on injured reserve are eligible to come off teams’ respective lists after three weeks. For 2020, teams can also activate an unlimited number of IR players — as opposed to the two-man max of 2019.

Atlanta Falcons

  • Claimed (from Washington): T Timon Paris

Cincinnati Bengals

  • Claimed (from Dolphins): G Deion Calhoun
  • Signed: CB Torry McTyer

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Contract Details: Zuerlein, Bills, Cardinals

Here are the latest details from the second wave of free agency. All links courtesy of the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson, unless otherwise noted.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/20/20

Today’s running list of minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

  • Released: P Ryan Allen (this is only a procedural move and Allen is expected to be re-signed shortly, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets.)

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Chicago Bears

Houston Texans

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Cowboys Activate CB C.J. Goodwin

The Cowboys are adding some reinforcement to their secondary. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that Dallas has activated cornerback C.J. Goodwin from injured reserve.

The Cowboys signed Goodwin off the Bengals practice squad back in October. The 28-year-old went on to appear in two games for Dallas before breaking his forearm. Goodwin subsequently underwent surgery and was placed on injured reserve.

The cornerback has bounced around the NFL a bit since entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2014, spending time with the Steelers, Falcons, Cardinals, Giants, 49ers, and Bengals. He played in 28 total games between 2016 and 2017, compiling 26 tackles and two passes defended.

The Cowboys could use some extra help at cornerback, especially after Anthony Brown missed Week 16 with a back injury. That left Jourdan Lewis as the lone cornerback behind Byron Jones and Chidobe Awuzie, so Goodwin will provide some insurance for that trio. At the very least, Goodwin will have an opportunity to contribute on special teams.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/24/18

Here are the NFL’s minor moves on Christmas Eve:

Dallas Cowboys

Oakland Raiders

Tennessee Titans

IR/Return Decisions: Panthers, Searcy, Cowboys, Jaguars

With the 2018 campaign nearly in the books, NFL clubs are making their final decisions on players to return (or not return) from injured reserve. Each team is allowed to bring two players back from IR, but said players must have been retained on their respective club’s initial 53-man roster. Once an IR player returns to practice, his club will have three weeks to decide whether to activate him to their 53-man roster; if he’s not activated, the player will remain on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.

Here’s the latest on IR/return players:

  • The Panthers have opted not to activate safety Da’Norris Searcy from injured reserve, tweets veteran reporter Howard Balzer. Searcy was designated to return three weeks ago, but once that 21-day window expired without him having been placed on Carolina’s 53-man roster, Searcy was done for the year. It’s entirely possible the Panthers would have activated Searcy if they were anywhere near playoff contention, but most postseason models give Carolina less than a one percent chance of securing a playoff berth, so the club probably didn’t feel the need to risk Searcy’s health. It’s doing the same thing with quarterback Cam Newton, shutting down the veteran signal-caller with two games to go. Searcy inked a two-year deal with the Panthers this offseason, but Carolina would incur just $650K in dead cap by cutting him.
  • The Cowboys have designated cornerback C.J. Goodwin to return from injured reserve, according to Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). If he is activated, Goodwin isn’t likely to play a major role on a Dallas defense that ranks as a top-10 unit in DVOA. The Cowboys already have three locked-in nickel package starters in Byron Jones, Chidobe Awuzie, and Anthony Brown, but Goodwin could offer depth and play on special teams, joining fellow reserve defensive back Jourdan Lewis in that regard. Goodwin has only played 188 total defensive snaps over his four-year pro career, but he’s never posted a season in which he played fewer than 45% of his club’s special teams snaps.
  • The Jaguars have designated linebacker Donald Payne to return from injured reserve, per Balzer (Twitter link). Payne is a pure special-teamer (he’s played just three defensive snaps since joining Jacksonville in 2017), as the Jaguars deploy Telvin Smith and Myles Jack as their starting linebackers. On the year, the Jaguars rank third in special teams DVOA, per Football Outsiders.