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Signing with the Cowboys is a homecoming of sorts for Payton Turner, considering he was born and raised in Texas, as well as having attended school at the University of Houston.

Turner was a multi-sport athlete at Westside High School in Houston, having played both basketball and football, using the added ability of the former to help perfect his ability to get after the passer in the latter.

There's a pedigree of athleticism within Turner's family, beginning with his mother, Elena Turner. She is not only a former basketball coach, but also a former Division 1 basketball player.

Having refined his football ability throughout his high school career, Turner's predraft workouts ended up out of a possible 10.00 ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft.

Turner went on to earn Second-team All-AAC honors at Houston (2020) before becoming the first round, 28th-overall pick of the New Orleans Saints — a little less than a six-hour drive east to his new home.

Not traveling far from home to begin his NFL career, Turner went from being a Houston native to becoming only the 15th player in the history of the University of Houston to be selected in the first round of an NFL Draft.

Jones didn't fully buy in to playing football until his junior year of high school at Rockford East in Rockford, Illinois, where he had just eight games of varsity film to his name before enrolling to play at Highland Community College in Highland, Kansas where he spent the first two years of his collegiate career before transferring to Middle Tennessee State.

In two seasons at Middle Tennessee State, Jones started 18 games at right tackle for the Blue Raiders where he was an Honorable Mention All-Conference USA player in 2020. It was the first move in positions for Jones at the college level, after he had previously played left guard at Highland CC.

Following his senior season, Jones competed in the 2021 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama with a chance to improve his draft stock. The way to do that was to show his versatility, which he did by taking reps at left and right guard as well as right tackle with different teams seeing him fit in different places.

Jones would end up going undrafted in the 2021 NFL Draft and was picked up by the Miami Dolphins as a UDFA, and made the final roster in August. He'd make his debut in Week 2 of the 2021 season, and started 13 games in his first three seasons with the Dolphins.

In 2024, Jones was Miami's full-time starter at left guard, playing 1,078 snaps in 17 games, which was the 19^th most among guards in the NFL last season. In those 17 games, Jones allowed five sacks and picked up seven penalties before signing a one-year deal with the Cowboys in free agency.

Injuries were a common theme for the Cowboys in 2024, and depth was seen as one of the most important aspects that Dallas needed to address on their roster going into 2025. They added just that in Jones, who brings in starting experience and versatility on the interior. He'll have to earn his spot though, with plenty of competition to go around in the room.

In 2017, Murray became the first OU freshman since 1975 to start the season opener at inside linebacker. Murray ended up starting every game – and all 42 games of his college career for the Sooners. In his freshman season of 2017, Murray was named Co-Newcomer of the Year for the Big XII.

While Oklahoma is regularly competing for national championships and considered one of the best collegiate programs of all-time, players and teams at OU are also judged in how they perform in one specific game every year. There is no bigger rival for the Sooners than the Texas Longhorns and for Murray, he played some of his best games ever against Texas in Dallas. In a 2019 game, Murray was named Big XII Defensive Player of the Week after recording two tackles for loss and one sack in OU's win over No. 11 ranked Texas.

Kenneth Murray now calls Ford Center home as it will serve as a practice facility for the Cowboys, but he was first in the building back in 2019 as a member of the Oklahoma Sooners. Murray was one of the players selected by OU to represent the team at Big XII Media Days, which was held at Ford Center in Frisco.

Drafted in the first round in 2020 (23^rd overall) by the Chargers, Murray shined in his rookie season, leading the team in tackles with 107, setting a new Chargers rookie record. This performance earned him a spot on the PFWA All-Rookie team. He started all 16 games that season.

Murray hit free agency in 2024 after the Chargers decided not to pick up his fifth-year option. He signed with the Titans and nearly reached 100 tackles, but he did have a career-high with eight tackles for loss.

The Cowboys found themselves rather active in the trade market during the 2025 offseason and one of the first additions was for Murray, who was no stranger to Dallas, having played in five games in either the Cotton Bowl or AT&T Stadium in college. Murray joins a Cowboys linebacker corps in need of some stability. He brings over two NFL seasons with 100+ tackles and should be an immediate anchor of Matt Eberflus' defense.

Kaiir Elam is a pure athlete and that is something established quite well at the high school level, where he was a three-sport talent participating not only in football, but also in basketball and running track for The Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Elam was named the Palm Beach 5A-1A Football Defensive Player of the Year as a senior after grabbing nine interceptions and racking up 71 combined tackles, adding three sacks to the tally of an outstanding senior season in high school.

Rated as the fourth best high school football prospect of his class [ESPN], Elam went on to commit to and become an All-Freshman SEC talent for the University of Florida in 2019, and Second-Team All-SEC in 2020.

There's a pedigree, and legacy, aspect of Elam's journey as well. His father, Abram Elam, attended Notre Dame and Kent State, making a name for himself en route to playing in the NFL for a total of seven seasons — including two separate stints with none other than the ¶¶ÒõÊÓƵ (2006, 2011) as a safety.

The pedigree of Elam's family doesn't end with his father, however, because his uncle, Matt Elam, preceded Kaiir at the University of Florida — First-Team All-SEC and First-Team All American — before going on to become the first-round pick of the Ravens in 2013, currently playing for the Massachusetts Pirates of the IFL (Indoor Football League).

Kaiir Elam ultimately followed in the footsteps of his father and uncle by becoming the first-round pick (23rd-overall) of the Bills in 2022. Buffalo aggressively sought him out, trading their 25th-overall pick and their 140th-overall pick (fourth round) to the Ravens for the right to add Elam to the roster, now suiting up in Dallas, as his father once did.

As a star player at Garland High School, Adeniji was once featured as the spotlight Player of the Week on the CBS Channel 11 in Dallas, hosted by former Cowboys quarterback Babe Laufenberg. At Garland, Adeniji was coached by Jeff Jordan, who later went to Kansas and helped recruit him to play with the Jayhawks. But Jordan also has ties to the Cowboys. During his team as a head coach, he would often spend his down time helping with the Cowboys' scouting department.

Early in his collegiate career, Adeniji was challenged at Kansas by one of the best pass-rushers, not only on the team, but in the entire Big 12 conference. The pass-rusher was Dorance Armstrong, a future Cowboys' fourth-round draft pick, who played five seasons in Dallas and is currently with the Commanders. In a 2017 article, Adeniji was quoted about his practice battles with Armstrong, who was a senior during his sophomore year. "I love going against him," Adeniji said of Armstrong. "We're both competitors and love to compete at a high level. Every practice we make sure and go at each other. Our main goal is to get better. He's going to get me sometimes and I'm going to get him. But it is always fun."

As a senior at Kansas, Hakeem Adeniji was one of the two headline players the Jayhawks chose to take to Big XII Media Days, which were held at AT&T Stadium in 2019.

A sixth-round pick of the Bengals in 2020, Adeniji ended up playing 15 games as a rookie, with five starts at left tackle. While late-round picks and even undrafted players make the roster every year, sticking on a team in 2020, when all of the preseason games were canceled due to COVID-19, it's even more impressive for players such as Adeniji to make the team, get in the games with an occasional start.

Adeniji got the chance to live out a dream, not only playing, but starting in the Super Bowl. As the starting left guard for the Bengals in 2021, Adeniji started for Cincinnati against the Rams in Super Bowl LVI. Of course, playing guard against the Rams means an all-day battle with future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald. The Bengals fell short in the game, losing a last-minute decision, 23-20.

The Cowboys have been looking to add not only some depth on the offensive line, but veteran help as well. Adeniji signed with the Cowboys on April 17. His experience to play both guard and tackle should make him a valuable backup at least, with a chance to compete for a starting job.

Remember when the top college players actually played in the bowl games? Sometimes, a great performance can enhance their draft stock. Fowler (right) is the one giving the Gatorade bath after Florida's Birmingham Bowl win over East Carolina to end the 2014 season. Fowler had three sacks in the win, which led to the "Gator" bath, which probably is a bit sweeter for the Florida Gators and the originator of the world-wide popular sports drink.

Just a few months after his impressive bowl game performance, Fowler was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 draft, selected by the Jaguars. Unfortunately for Fowler, he suffered a torn ACL in one of the first offseason practices and missed his entire 2015 rookie season.

Halfway into his fourth season with the Jaguars, Fowler (56) was traded to the Rams in 2018. Fowler not only recorded a sack against the Cowboys in the 2018 Divisional game, but was part of the Rams' pass-rush that gave Tom Brady and the Patriots a long day in Super Bowl LIII. But despite holding the Pats to just 10 points, the Rams fell short in a 10-3 loss.

In 2022, Fowler joined the Cowboys as his fourth NFL team (Jaguars, Rams, Falcons) and his second stop with Dan Quinn. Fowler had six sacks in his first season in Dallas, and then four more in 2023, prompting him to follow Quinn to Washington as a free agent for the 2024 season.

In one of his best seasons of his career, Fowler had his second double-digit sack season of his career, posting 10.5 for Quinn's led Washington defense. He has had his first career interception return for a touchdown on this 67-yard score against Carolina. Fowler was able to get away from running back Miles Sanders, who is now a teammate with the Cowboys.

While Fowler turns 31 in the middle of training camp, he continues to put up numbers, which will continue to get pass-rushers a new contract. Fowler decided to return to Dallas and will again be a top edge rusher opposite of Micah Parsons. After a brief stint in No. 3, Fowler agreed to swap jerseys with George Pickens and is now wearing No. 13 for the regular season.

The Akron (Ohio) native was lethal on a track, evidenced by Parris Campbell's ability to anchoring a championship relay team — 4x100 and 4x200 — for St. Vincent-St. Mary in 2013 along with setting personal bests that season in both 100m and 200m, also breaking the state record for the 60-meter dash at the 2014 indoor state championships (6.85 seconds).

During his time at Ohio State, Campbell aggressively improved year-over-year, earning Third-Team All-Big Ten honors in 2016, Second-Team All-Big Ten honors in 2017 and ultimately First-Team All-Big Ten honors in 2018; the stage being set by a national championship in 2015.

Campbell once dominated at running back, racking up numbers at the position in high school for St. Vincent-St. Mary, to the tune of 1,584 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns during his senior year and 1,353 yards and scored 28 touchdowns the year prior — helping SVSM win back-to-back state championships in 2012 and 2013.

Heavily recruited following high school, Campbell was a consensus four-star prospect and was ranked/rated in the Top 25 of all recruits that season, regardless of position, as high as No. 14 and as low as No. 19, before committing to play wide receiver for Ohio State in 2015.

Campbell's talents didn't stop at receiver or running back, because he was also a dynamic returner for the Buckeyes as well, going on to be named Third-Team All-Big Ten return specialist in 2016 and Second-Team All-Big Ten return specialist in 2017, along with the other aforementioned honors.

The accolades for Campbell as a returner didn't stop with All-Big Ten honors, as he also led the entire conference in kickoff returns in 2016, ranks third in the university's single season record for most return yards (584) and tied the school record for career kickoff return average (30.4 yards) with Tom Barrington, a record that was exclusive for 52 years before going on to become a second-round pick of the Colts.

Sanders was one of the top prospects in the entire country in the 2016 recruiting class, a consensus five-star prospect and the number one overall recruit in the state of Pennsylvania. After a senior season that saw him rush for 1,132 yards and 18 touchdowns on just 97 carries, Sanders committed to his home state Penn State Nittany Lions.

After playing a larger role as a special teams returner in his first two seasons in State College, Sanders exploded onto the scene in his junior season, rushing for 1,274 yards on 220 carries to go along with nine touchdowns. Sanders' rushing performance placed him second in the Big 10 in rushing yards behind Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor, and 15^thoverall in the nation.

The Philadelphia Eagles selected Sanders in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft, where he was a solid contributor over the course of his first three seasons in Philadelphia. He finished with 2,439 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in his first three seasons, where he started 34 games and was fourth in offensive rookie of the year voting in his rookie season.

2022 marked Sanders' breakout year, where he rushed for a career best 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns on 259 carries and was named to his first career Pro Bowl. He was the fifth leading rusher in the league in 2022, and helped the Eagles finish as a top five rushing offense and a Super Bowl appearance, where they lost 38-35 to the Kansas City Chiefs.

After a career year in 2022, Sanders signed a four-year, $25.4 million deal with the Carolina Panthers in the hopes of staying hot going into his fifth NFL season. Unfortunately, the following two seasons that Sanders spent with the Panthers were the two worst of his NFL career, where he rushed for just 637 yards and three touchdowns in 27 games with the team.

After the Panthers released him earlier in the offseason, the Cowboys signed Sanders to a one-year deal where he'll look to return to the 2022 version of himself and resurrect his career in Dallas. Early on during the media viewing periods of OTAs and minicamp, Sanders has stood out in the running back group and was seen taking more first team reps as time went along, which is a good start, but his real proving grounds will come at training camp in Oxnard.

Sanborn was rated as a consensus four-star recruit in the 2018 class out of Lake Zurich high school in Illinois, and committed to play for the Wisconsin Badgers after capping off his high school career with a state championship in Class 7A during a 13-1 season where he posted 120 tackles and three sacks.

The Sanborn family is a football family, and it started with Jack's late father Paul Sanborn, who was an offensive lineman at Oregon from 1980-82. He passed away when Sanborn was four years old, and coincidentally, 12 years to the date after his father passed, Sanborn called Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst to commit to the Badgers, saying later that "it was like it was meant to be." His younger brother Bryan played for the Badgers from 2021-2023, but retired ahead of the 2024 season after suffering several back injuries.

Sanborn started 34 games at inside linebacker in his final three collegiate season at Wisconsin, leading the team in tackles with 52 during the shortened 2020 COVID season and was named the Duke's Mayo Bowl game MVP. In 2021, Sanborn was second on the team in tackles with 91 and had the fourth most tackles for loss in the Big 10 with 16 en route to being named to the first team All- Big 10 as selected by the conference's coaches.

After going undrafted in 2022, Sanborn signed as an undrafted free agent with his hometown team, the Chicago Bears. He quickly proved himself worthy of being on the roster in his first training camp, and was signed to the 53-man roster where he ended up starting six games for the Bears in his rookie season and played in 14, posting 64 tackles, five tackles for loss and two sacks.

In the next two seasons with the Bears, Sanborn would play in all 34 of Chicago's games and combined for 100 tackles, 9 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. He also got his first career interception, which he returned back for 42 yards after the fact in 2023 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Sanborn was the third linebacker in the rotation for Chicago alongside Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards, but still made an impact defensively for the Bears

The Cowboys signed Sanborn to a one-year deal in the offseason, reuniting him with his head coach in Chicago Matt Eberflus, who returned to Dallas this offseason as defensive coordinator. Sanborn brings a sense of familiarity with Eberflus' system to the Cowboys, who will be in need of some fresh faces at the linebacker position for at least the start of the season, and can serve as a help to his teammates that are still learning what Eberflus wants his defense to look like.

Thomas isn't simply a talented NFL player, but also a philanthropist in the local community, primarily by way of his charity, "The Defensive Line", that focuses on teaching youth the ins and outs of football but, most importantly, the importance of mental health and mental health awareness — the goal being to reduce youth suicide after having lost his sister to in the past.

Signing with the Cowboys is a big deal for Thomas, considering he is an alum of Coppell High School, located northwest of the Dallas Metroplex, and what many don't know is that his time in North Texas was preceded by several childhood years spent living in Australia.

Thomas was ranked as the nation's 20th-best overall recruit coming out of Coppell High, and a five-star recruit by at least one metric when he committed to playing for Stanford.

Hailing from a family of athletes, Thomas' parents were active at a high level in sports as well. His father, Chris, played collegiate basketball, while his mother, Martha, ran collegiate track and his uncle, Jon, became a four-time Big-Ten 400m hurdles champion at Indiana.

Thomas didn't take the field as a freshman at Stanford, but he used that as motivation to take the Cardinals and the conference by storm, winning a list of accolades as a junior, including the Morris Trophy for being named best defensive lineman in the conference in 2016.

Only one defensive end was ranked higher than Thomas as he entered the 2017 NFL Draft, and that person was none other than Myles Garrett, a nod to Thomas' near-limitless ceiling en route to becoming the third-overall pick that year.

Milton was a composite four-star recruit in the class of 2018 out of Olympia High School in Orlando, Florida. He received 25 offers in high school, but decided to commit to the Michigan Wolverines over his hometown Florida Gators, where he'd spend the first three seasons of his college football career.

After two years as a backup and a 2-3 record as the starter in Michigan's 2020 COVID season, Milton entered the transfer portal and headed to Knoxville to play at Tennessee. After serving as the backup for a majority of the 2021 season and again in 2022, until he replaced an injured Hendon Hooker at the tail end of the season. The highlight was Milton's MVP performance in the Orange Bowl against Clemson, where he threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns against the Tigers in his home state.

Milton's sixth and final season of college football saw him finally take the reigns as the starter for a team throughout the entire season, leading Tennessee to an 8-4 record with 2,813 yards and 20 touchdowns to just five interceptions over the course of the season. It wasn't the full season that Milton or the Vols wanted, but he left Knoxville with plenty of upside and more starting tape on his film heading into the NFL Draft process.

The NFL combine was made for quarterbacks like Joe Milton, who have cannons of arms that can air the ball out deep and draw "ooo's" and "ahh's" from the crowd on hand. Milton took that to the next level, airing out deep balls on go routes 70 yards or longer with a simple flick of his wrist. At Tennessee's pro day, Milton's throwing session was highlighted by an 80-yard throw that went viral on social media.

The New England Patriots selected Milton in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, where he played behind third overall pick Drake Maye for his rookie season. Milton got his first NFL shot in the Patriots' final game of the season against the Buffalo Bills, who were resting most of their starters for the playoffs, and he capitalized on his opportunity. Milton went 22 of 29 through the air for 241 yards and a touchdown, adding 10 carries for 16 yards and a rushing touchdown on the ground en route to a 23-16 win.

After the big finish to his rookie season, Milton got an early fresh start in his career when the Patriots traded him and a seventh-round pick to the Cowboys for a 2025 fifth-round pick. With both Cooper Rush and Trey Lance gone, Milton will compete with Will Grier for the backup quarterback job in Dallas behind Dak Prescott, with the chance to earn a long-term role on the team going forward if he develops.

Pickens was a composite five-star prospect out of Hoover, Alabama in the 2019 recruiting class. After initially committing to Auburn, he flipped to Georgia on National Signing Day and would go on to play for the Bulldogs in all three seasons of his collegiate career.

Pickens' brother Chris Humes, was a star defensive back at Arkansas State and later spent a training camp and preseason with the Raiders.

Heading into his junior season, Pickens suffered a torn ACL in spring practice, a brutal blow for Georgia's offense and Pickens' NFL outlook. He'd end up returning later on in the season, and stamped himself as a top player in the upcoming draft with a 52-yard diving catch in the 2021 national championship game against Alabama, which Georgia won 33-18.

In his rookie season with the Steelers, Pickens made a one-handed catch against the Browns that had some NFL pundits comparing it to Odell Beckham's catch against the Cowboys in 2014.

In 2023, Pickens led the entire NFL in average per catch at 18.1 yards. One of the games that catapulted him to that lofty average occurred against the Bengals. Pickens not only hauled in an 86-yard touchdown pass – the longest reception from scrimmage by any NFL player that year – but also had a 66-yarder in the same game. Pickens is one of just 13 players in NFL history to record multiple TDs of 65 yards or more in the same game.

After a brief stint with No. 13, Pickens is now settled into the jersey of No. 3 after a switch with defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. Pickens attended nearly every one of the voluntary OTAs and all of the minicamp, alongside CeeDee Lamb. Pickens and Lamb are looking to become just the fourth wide receiver duo in Cowboys history to have 1,000-yard seasons in the same year. Only Amari Cooper/Michael Gallup (2019), Terry Glenn/Terrell Owens (2006) and Tony Hill/Drew Pearsons (1979) have accomplished that feat.