Who is Jalen Dalton, the defensive end the Cowboys signed?

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones isn’t so worried about their 3-3 record or their glaring roster issues. He’s confident that the team he built is going to turn things around. The same team that got annihilated in their worst home loss in Jones’ 35 years as the owner.

With that in mind, Jerry let it be known that the Cowboys would not be active ahead of the November 5 NFL trade deadline. Instead, they’d be looking inward to fix the issues on the roster without adding key players.

Cowboys sign defensive end Jalen Dalton

They have so far kept good on that promise (not that anyone doubted it considering it’s been the mantra since the offseason). Instead, they’ve made some changes that seemingly won’t make the slightest of differences at all.

During the Cowboys’ bye week, they signed former XFL defensive end Jalen Dalton to the practice squad and released defensive tackle Phil Hoskins. Defensive end is indeed a position where the Cowboys need immediate help, as DeMarcus Lawrence and Marshawn Kneeland are both on Injured Reserve for two and three weeks more, respectively. Chauncey Golston has been the team’s best DE since Lawrence and Kneeland have been out, but Tyrus Wheat, Carl Lawson and K.J. Henry have been unimpressive.

27-year-old Dalton played college Football at North Carolina from 2015-2018 and finished with 93 total tackles and 6.5 sacks. He was an undrafted free agent of the Chicago Bears in 2019. He was briefly a part of several other NFL teams as well, including the New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals, and Carolina Panthers and had season-ending injuries in both 2020 and 2021. He last played in the NFL in 2022 with the Atlanta Falcons, appearing in 12 Games and gaining 12 tackles, three pressures, and eight defensive stops. Most recently, he played for the Seattle Sea Dragons and the San Antonio Brahmas under former Cowboys coach Wade Phillips.

While the pickins’ may be slim, it almost seems like a pointless signing as Dalton, who’s never even made a sack in the NFL, may not even get elevated from the practice squad before Lawrence and Kneeland return. He has 10 days to get ready if he does get elevated, which could happen as soon as October 27 when the Cowboys face the San Francisco 49ers.