The Dallas Cowboys have been linked with Denzel Mims since he was available during the 2020 NFL draft. Through his failed attempts to establish himself within the league, a Texas reunion has been hoped for by many. In for pre-draft visits, the Cowboys were stunned away from selecting him when CeeDee Lamb fell in their laps with the No. 17 overall selection. Later, after he was unable to find strong footing with the New York Jets, the Cowboys have been linked to him in trade attempts and free-agency inquiries, with nothing coming to fruition until 2026.

Now a member of their offseason roster, Mims’ career has gone nothing like planned. He hasn’t been on an active NFL roster since 2022, spending two seasons in the UFL with the St. Louis Battlehawks and the Dallas Renegades. Neither stint has been impressive. Now, the Cowboys are giving the local product a chance to prove it’s circumstance and opportunity, not a lack of pro talent.

Rundown

Position: Wide Receiver

Age: 28

Height: 6-foot-3

Weight: 209 pounds

Hometown: Daingerfield, TX

High School: Daingerfield High

College: Baylor (Film Video vs Oklahoma 2019)

Draft: 2020 second-round pick, No. 59

Contract: One-year contract (2026), $1.145 million

Career Earnings: $4.4 million (per Over The Cap)

Profile

Mims has 42 career catches in the NFL, for 676 yards. He’s yet to reach the end zone as a professional, in either the NFL or UFL. He’ll spend his training camp battling with the bottom of the 90-man offseason roster to try and secure a role with the Cowboys in 2026. Dallas has the first four spots locked up with CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Ryan Flournoy and Kavontae Turpin. From there, it’s a true camp battle situation between veterans and youngsters alike.

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With a couple teams set to report for training camp in just two weeks, we can start to look at each team’s roster makeup and determine how things might play out. In Miami, a recent influx of talent at linebacker could make veteran offseason addition Ronnie Harrison a free agent again before the start of the season.

Harrison signed to join a Dolphins team transitioning between defensive schemes and returning a decent group from last year. When they ran mostly in a 3-4 base defense under former defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, Jordyn Brooks and Tyrel Dodson dominated playing time for Miami’s off-ball linebackers. After Brooks and Dodson, three safeties played more snaps in the box than the Dolphins’ backup linebackers.

While new defensive coordinator Sean Duggan runs a variety defensive looks, the base defense is 4-3, introducing an additional spot for an off-ball linebacker. On its surface, that seems like a positive development for Harrison, an experienced veteran with starting time under his belt, but Miami clearly knew it needed bodies to compete for that third spot as it worked efficiently to add talent in the offseason.

Brooks and Dodson are joined in their return by veteran Willie Gay Jr., a former full-time starter for the Chiefs who started two games in his first year with the Dolphins last year. With Brooks and Dodson dominating the playing time, Gay put up some career lows with fewer snaps, but he’s got experience as a starter and experience playing among his fellow Dolphins, and the team opted not to let him walk when they re-signed him in free agency.

Harrison’s other competition all comes from this past year’s draft. Ohio State’s Sonny Styles got recognition throughout the pre-draft process as the class’s best linebacker, but Texas Tech’s Jacob Rodriguez stole all the headlines throughout the college football season. The unanimous All-American got Heisman votes and won two awards for the best defensive player in the country (Bronko Nagurski Trophy & Chuck Bednarik Award) as well as the Butkus Award for the nation’s top linebacker. Over the past two seasons, he combined for 255 total tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, six sacks, six interceptions, 10 passes defensed, four fumble recoveries, and 10 forced fumbles, including an NCAA-leading seven last year.

Rodriguez is joined by two others in the rookie class, though they weren’t strictly known as linebackers at the collegiate level. Both of the team’s fourth-round picks, Trey Moore and Kyle Louis, have been getting time at linebacker in the offseason, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Moore split his time evenly in Austin, playing off-ball and on the edge for the Longhorns. The Texas-product is expected to continue working at both spots in the NFL, per Jackson. Louis was regarded as a safety coming out of Pitt, where he played mostly in the box while covering a good amount in the slot, as well.

Brooks and Dodson are locks for roster spots, as are the three rookies, most likely, and it’s not often that a team is looking to carry for than five players at linebacker. So, if any spots are available, it may be just one Harrison must compete for with Gay and Jackson Woodard, an undrafted rookie last year. Gay might be a tough matchup for Harrison, too, as he holds a bit more consistent past starting experience and familiarity with the team.

It’s not all doom for Harrison, though, and his saving grace may come as a result of returning to his hybrid safety role. For much of his early career in Jacksonville and Cleveland, Harrison played a hybrid safety-linebacker position weighing a bit more towards safety. The Dolphins saw three players — Minkah Fitzpatrick, Ashtyn Davis, and Ifeatu Melifonwu — play similar roles last year, and all three defenders now play for other teams. Per Jackson, the team seems to like fifth-round Texas rookie Michael Taaffe and last year’s fifth-rounder Dante Trader Jr. to fill those roles this year with veteran Lonnie Johnson Jr. and special teams ace Zayne Anderson backing them up.

With so many new additions at the linebacker position, Harrison’s recent transition to a more consistent linebacker role seems to have bitten him. If the Dolphins decide they’d like a bit more experience with so much turnover in the secondary, though, Harrison might be able to secure a role by tapping into his old position. Additionally, a rebuilding Dolphins team with lots of young talent may be looking to trade Brooks or Dodson if the season gets off to a cold start, though they’ve expressed interest in extending Brooks. If either player is dealt, a bit more room on the roster may become available for a hybrid-type of player.

The Braves are exiting a June that was absolutely miserable, but they finally hit a handful of homers on Friday night, hosting the Mets. They’ve got another favorable matchup here, with Chris Sale on the mound and facing the imminently hittable Sean Manaea for New York. We’ve got a national TV matchup on the 250th anniversary of this great country’s founding. The Braves have lived up to expectations, despite their horrid June, but FOX will be a bit disappointed in the Mets, relative to what they expected before the season when this matchup was scheduled.

Chris Sale has been brilliant of late, and really all year, but the struggles of Atlanta’s offense have prevented the team from capitalizing on that in the form of wins since May. One would think that this would be a game that the Braves could put some runs up against Manaea at home, perhaps building on the power they showed Friday, but this is the type of game they have frequently been losing lately. Sale may figure out a way to score a run off the pitching mound out of pure fury if he doesn’t get any run support today.

Manaea has been ever so slightly above average in most things other than ERA this year, getting the opener treatment frequently and starting only 4 games. His elite extension props up a pretty uninspiring arsenal of primarily a four-seamer, sinker, and sweeper, with a cutter and changeup sprinkled in. His four-seamer and sinker have a lot of arm-side run, while the rest of his pitches have quite average movement with well-below-average velocity. He’s perhaps been getting some HR/FB rate luck this season, so hopefully he gets some regression in favor of Atlanta’s bats.

Game Date/Time: Saturday, July 4, 8:08 p.m. ET

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan