Five Tuesday Tryouts Show How Thin the Cowboys’ Defensive Margin Has Become

The imbalance came before the names: four defensive backs, one linebacker. On Tuesday, the Cowboys brought in Juanyeh Thomas, Alex Austin, Shemar Bartholomew and Tyrek Funderburk for secondary tryouts, along with linebacker Germaine Pratt. It was a broad defensive search with a clear center of gravity, and it said more about Dallas’ urgency than about anyone’s chances of playing against Houston.

The Cowboys reported the tryouts at 5 p.m. Central on Sept. 29, citing the NFL transaction wire. The timing matters because Dallas is working through a short week after Baltimore.

Safety Jalen Thompson left that game with a hamstring injury, and cornerback Shavon Revel exited with a knee issue. Defensive tackle Jonathan Bullard also departed, but his injury belongs to the front rather than the secondary. That distinction matters when measuring what Tuesday’s list was trying to address.

The back end was already carrying prior absences. Safety Malik Hooker had been out with a forearm issue, while safety P.J. Locke was moved to injured reserve with a designation to return on Sept. 26 after a foot problem.

The result is not one clean vacancy waiting for one obvious replacement. It is a collection of uncertainties spread across the defensive depth chart, which makes a five-player examination more sensible than a single-name pursuit.

Tryouts are useful precisely because they postpone the roster decision. Dallas can compare experience, medical information, positional backgrounds and immediate availability before committing a contract or a role. That is particularly important when the calendar is compressing the evaluation process. A player who looks familiar or plausible on a transaction list still has to be healthy enough, prepared enough and trusted enough to matter.

Thomas illustrates the distinction. Dallas originally signed him as an undrafted player from Georgia Tech, and he appeared in 36 Cowboys games while making four starts over the 2023-25 seasons. That history gives the team an existing reference point: coaches and personnel staff know something about his previous time in the building.

It does not establish his current fitness, guarantee a return or make him the answer to the present injury cluster.

The other three defensive backs matter because they prevent the exercise from becoming a reunion disguised as roster management. Their inclusion widens the comparison instead of allowing the most recognizable name to win by default. The Cowboys are examining alternatives across the secondary while the injury picture includes both safety and cornerback concerns.

That is a practical response to uncertainty, not proof that any one candidate has separated himself.

Pratt’s presence keeps the list from being read as a pure safety-and-cornerback audit. Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown had an earlier hamstring absence, and Dallas added Justin Barron to the active 53-man roster on Sept. 26. One linebacker among four defensive backs does not indicate a defensive reconstruction.

It does indicate that the club is checking whether its shortage has spread beyond the back end, where the recent exits were most visible.

There is a limit to how much Tuesday can accomplish. The Cowboys have not reported that any of the five players signed, cleared medicals, joined the practice squad or practiced with the active roster. A tryout can lead to a transaction, but it can also end with a polite handshake and no change to the next depth chart.

Treating the list as a forecast of the Houston lineup would turn an evaluation into a conclusion it cannot support.

The opposing argument is straightforward: Dallas cannot afford to wait for perfect clarity. Injuries arrive on their own schedule, and a short week leaves less room to discover options after another player goes down. Looking at five defenders at once gives the organization more ways to respond and reduces the risk of making an emergency decision solely because one name happened to be available first.

That is why Tuesday’s move deserves credit, with a boundary attached. Casting a wide net was diligent, especially with four defensive backs under consideration and linebacker depth also requiring attention. But diligence becomes a depth fix only after Dallas chooses someone, completes the transaction and determines that the player can occupy a real role.

Until then, the tryout list is a sensible search—and a quiet indication that the margin behind the starters is getting dangerously narrow.

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