Cowboys sign four players to futures contracts on Wednesday

The Dallas Cowboys have reached agreements with four players on futures contracts, NFL insider Aaron Wilson reported Wednesday. The signees are receivers Antonio Callaway and Dennis Houston, offensive lineman Alex Taylor and safety Tyler Coyle.

All four players spent time on the Cowboys’ practice squad this past season.

Callaway, a fourth-round pick out of Florida in the 2018 NFL Draft, bring the most pro experience of the group. He had his best season as a rookie with the Cleveland Browns, where he totaled 43 catches for 586 yards and five touchdowns. Since then, however, he has appeared in only nine games over the next four seasons.

Houston, Taylor and Coyle each played in at least one game for the Cowboys in 2022. An undrafted rookie out of Western Illinois, Houston caught two passes for 16 yards in the season opener against Tampa Bay. Coyle and Taylor both appeared in the final game of the regular season against Washington, with Coyle recording six tackles.

According to the NFL’s rules regarding futures contracts, the players the Cowboys signed will not count against the salary cap or roster limit for the current season. However, it does prevent them from negotiating with other teams. When the time comes to sign free agents heading into next season, Dallas will have first priority for these players.

The Cowboys finished this past season with a 12-5 record, earning a trip to the playoffs for the second straight year. Unfortunately, they would go on to lose to San Francisco in the divisional round by a score of 19-12. Dallas has not made it past the divisional round since 1995, the last time it won a Super Bowl.

As the Cowboys head into the offseason, they will look to retool their roster and prepare for another playoff push in 2023. The players they signed to futures contracts are just the start of that, and give them some interesting young talent moving forward.