Many Cowboys fans are still hoping for the team to swing a blockbuster trade for a marquee defensive lineman, a bona fide superstar who can step in at the season’s midway point and help reverse the fortunes of a unit that ranks near the bottom of most statistical categories and even threatens to end up as the worst Cowboys defense ever.
They may have to settle for an under-the-radar in-house option making his way back from injury and hope he can do the job instead.
The Cowboys on Wednesday opened the 21-day practice window for defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey. The UFL standout had an excellent training camp and preseason with Dallas but suffered a back injury in the lead-up to the team’s regular season opener versus Philadelphia and was inactive in Week 1.
Just a few days later, the club moved the 25-year-old to injured reserve. Winfrey sat out the next seven games, but he is now eligible to begin practicing with the team again and can be activated to the regular roster at any point in the next three weeks. If Winfrey is not moved to the 53-man roster by Nov. 19, he will revert back to injured reserve and his season will be over.
Winfrey was a fourth-round draft pick of the Browns in 2022 but was waived after just one season due to legal troubles in Cleveland. A 2023 stint on the Jets’ practice squad followed before he signed with the UFL’s Birmingham Stallions in 2024. Winfrey made the All-UFL Team and led the team to a shutout victory in the league championship on June 16.
Two days later, he signed with the Cowboys and was the only UFL player to earn an opening-day roster spot in the NFL this season. Fans may recall that when Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer and vice president of player personnel Will McClay sat down with Winfrey to inform him he had made the team, he assumed at first he was getting cut, and word to that effect even leaked out on social media before his roster spot was confirmed.
Now Winfrey is one big step closer to finally getting back onto the field and making the most of his second chance.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Help coming for defensive line? Cowboys open 21-day practice window for preseason standout
Reporting by Todd Brock, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
