ss MASSIVE MOVE: Cowboys Bolster D-Line With a 6-Foot-4, 307-Pound MONSTER Just Hours Before Raiders Clash!
DALLAS – The Dallas Cowboys are staring down a must-win moment, fresh off their bye week and licking their wounds from a brutal stretch: two straight losses and three defeats in their last four games. At 3-5-1, the playoff dreams that flickered so brightly last season are fading fast, but here’s the good news – they’ve got a golden goose laid right in their lap. The 2-7 Las Vegas Raiders, the poster child for 2025 disappointment, roll into town for a prime-time Monday Night Football showdown. It’s the kind of matchup that screams “get right” if the Boys can flip the script.
Cowboys Add 6-Foot-4, 307-Pound OL Ahead of Raiders Game
But Mike McCarthy’s crew isn’t leaving a single stone unturned – especially not on the trenches, where every inch matters. After coughing up a key practice squad piece on Tuesday, the Cowboys moved like lightning to plug the hole. Former Washington Commanders third-rounder Geron Christian, a battle-tested vet, got scooped up by the Denver Broncos for an active roster gig. Ouch. The 6-foot-5, 302-pound tackle’s departure left a void, but Dallas didn’t blink. Just a day later, on Wednesday, they inked another absolute unit to the practice squad: 6-foot-4, 307-pound beast Marcellus Johnson, per the team’s transaction wire.
This isn’t just any depth add – it’s a calculated strike to keep the engine humming as the stretch run looms.
Cowboys’ Big Boys Have Been Battle-Tested
Look, the offensive line hasn’t been the villain in Dallas’ soap opera this year. Amid the chaos of a middling record and the ghosts of a missed postseason, these guys have been the unsung heroes holding the fort. Quarterback Dak Prescott? He’s feasting on the third-lowest sack rate in the league at a crisp 4.2%, dropping back there just 15 times across nine games – good for the seventh-fewest takedowns league-wide. When the pocket’s clean, Dak’s dealing dimes, and that’s kept the offense from total collapse.
That said, no one’s popping champagne yet. Prescott’s feeling the heat more than ideal, clocking an average time-to-throw of 2.6 seconds – smack in the middle of the pack at 19th among QBs with 100+ snaps. The blindside pressure is real, and with the Raiders’ pass rush lurking (even if they’re sputtering overall), Dallas can’t risk any new cracks forming up front. Depth like Johnson’s? It’s insurance in a league where one tweak can torch a season.
From UDFA Longshot to Cowboys’ Secret Weapon?
Johnson’s no stranger to the grind, but he’s worlds away from Christian’s road-warrior resume. The 2024 undrafted free agent out of Eastern Michigan hasn’t sniffed a single NFL regular-season snap yet – think of him as a powder keg waiting for the match. His pro odyssey kicked off with a splash: a fat $2.85 million, three-year pact from the New York Giants, including a $170K guarantee that topped their entire UDFA class that year. But reality hit quick – the deal got axed almost immediately, swapped for a humble $225K practice squad flier.
From there, it’s been the practice squad carousel: stints with the Minnesota Vikings and Indianapolis Colts over two seasons, grinding for that big break. The Colts cut him loose on October 14, leaving the big man in football purgatory for nearly a month. Enter the Cowboys, swooping in Wednesday like they spotted buried treasure. If injuries strike – and in the NFL, they always do – Johnson could be the next man up, anchoring Prescott’s blindside with that tree-trunk frame.
Echoes of a Draft-Day Darling
Back in the 2024 draft haze, NFL insiders were buzzing about this kid. One scout pegged him as “a legitimate NFL player,” grading him “almost as high” as his old Eastern Michigan running mate, Sidy Sow. That comparison? It’s no small potatoes. Sow, a 6-foot-5, 318-pound road-grader, went off the board in the third round to the New England Patriots in 2023. After a rocky camp release this August, the 27-year-old latched on with the Houston Texans’ practice squad – and wouldn’t you know it, they elevated him to the active roster on November 8. Sow’s out there balling now; Johnson’s knocking on the door.
For a Cowboys team desperate to salvage 2025, this low-key signing screams smart football. The Raiders game is the launchpad – win it, and the momentum flips. Lose, and the whispers turn to screams. Either way, with a monster like Johnson in the fold, Dallas is loading up the clip for the fight ahead. How’s that for a bye-week glow-up?
