Dallas Cowboys sign former Michigan State, USFL cornerback Josh Butler
After a workout on Tuesday, the Dallas Cowboys signed former Michigan State cornerback Josh Butler to the roster for training camp.
Butler is coming fresh off of a season with the USFL. He played for the Michigan Panthers, tallying 29 tackles while the team went 4-6.
The Cowboys have multiple former USFL players on the roster now after finding a diamond in KaVontae Turpin last season.
“I like the way Stephen says it when he says putting the roster together is not only a year-round, 24-hour a day job but it comes from all directions,” team owner Jerry Jones said on Tuesday. “We brought in our returner Turpin last year at training camp, our safety at training camp. It never stops. It’s evolving.
“Winning a game comes from all those areas, across the board. It takes a lot of people to play this game. I’m really proud of the way we put this roster together. Now, all of that has to result in first downs and touchdowns.”
In college, Butler was at Michigan State under Mark Dantonio for five years. He began contributing to the defense in 2016, gradually increasing his role through 2019.
The Mesquite, Texas native totaled 25 tackles in his senior season before trying his hand in the big leagues.
On top of playing football, the former Spartan is also a big personality on social media. He makes music and posts videos (often featuring his dogs), boasting 3.2 million followers on TikTok.
The Cowboys’ roster is now at 90 players with practice starting on Wednesday. Camp in Oxnard, California officially began on Tuesday with veteran report day. The team’s chartered flight out of Dallas was on Monday. Butler will help provide some depth behind Trevon Diggs, Stephon Gilmore, DaRon Bland, Jourdan Lewis (PUP), Nahshon Wright, Kelvin Joseph and Eric Scott Jr.
Cowboys add USFL kicker
The Dallas Cowboys’ last roster transaction was earlier this month when they added kicker Brandon Aubrey from the USFL.
Aubrey wrapped up a season with the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions after wrapping up an MLS career and a collegiate career playing soccer for Notre Dame.
In 2017, Aubrey was a first-round draft pick for Toronto F.C. of the MLS. They released him after one season, and he then signed with the United Soccer League team Bethlehem Steel.
Aubrey made his debut as a football player after going in the USFL’s 2022 Draft to Birmingham. His contract with the Stallions lapsed on July 3. During the season, he went 14 for 15 on field goals and 35-for-35 on point-after attempts.
The newest Cowboy grew up in DFW and played soccer for the Dallas Texans. He gives the team 89 players on the roster heading toward camp in Oxnard, California.
Dallas chose not to re-up on kicker Brett Maher after he became the first ever to miss four extra-point attempts in a single game last season. The roster still has one other kicker, Tristan Vizcaino, but McCarthy wasn’t ready to hand him the job without a challenger.
“I’d definitely say it’s fluid,” McCarthy said during OTAs. “We’ll continue to work that. XFL, USFL, we’re looking at all the options. We definitely want to have competition at the kicking position.”
Cowboys special teams coach John Fassel also made headlines with the way he described the search for additional competition.
“Anybody else on Earth who is not on the team right now, is under consideration,” Fassel said, via the team’s website. “That’s everyone really. I think we have a lot of different guys that we’re still looking at — XFL, USFL, veterans on the street, younger guys who still haven’t found their way.”