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The Cowboys continue to work at providing quality backups along the offensive line.
The Dallas Cowboys starting offensive line looks to be a strength of the team. Only the left guard position is still subject to change, and it's a battle between two starters from last year, Ron Leary and Mackenzy Bernadeau. The backup offensive linemen, however, are another story.
Today, Dallas released injured backup guard Brian Clarke and brought in Wayne Tribue.
Tribue signed as an undrafted free agent in 2012 with the Denver Broncos after a career at Temple. He has also spent time with the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints. He has been playing with the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League. Philadelphia is coached by Clint Dolezel, who is the former Dallas Desperados quarterback and was coached by Cowboys assistant director of player personnel Will McClay.
In addition, sources report that the Cowboys put in a claim on recently released offensive tackle Michael Bowie. The Cowboys didn't receive Bowie, three other teams also put in a claim on the injured tackle, and he was awarded to the Browns. Bowie wouldn't have been ready to play for 4-6 months, so obviously he wasn't in the plans for this offseason, but the Cowboys backup linemen have question marks, and additional options for the future would be welcomed.
Whoever loses the left guard battle will be the primary guard backup, and Dallas does have veteran Uche Nwaneri at the other backup guard spot (although he had some issues at the scrimmage on Sunday), so at those positions there is some veteran presence. But at center, the backup is rookie Ronald Patrick. It's doubtful he would be the guy they rely on, so Bernadeau is probably the backup at two spots, guard and center. At tackle, Darrion Weems is injured and Jeremy Parnell has not progressed the way the team would have liked. He was cooked by Martez Wilson in the past scrimmage on a couple of occasions and really isn't looking like a quality backup. In fact, Zack Martin would likely slide to tackle if needed, and one of the guards would have to take over his right guard position.
There are worse problems the Cowboys could have, but they are at least trying to address the issue by bringing in Nwaneri, churning the bottom of the roster, and putting in claims on future talent. If all works out to plan, though, they won't need to test their backup line strength this year.
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