Report: Dallas Cowboys signing free agent OL Hakeem Adeniji

The Dallas Cowboys are signing offensive lineman Hakeem Adeniji, per FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz. Adeniji is an NFL veteran, with 43 appearances and 15 career starts under his belt.

Most recently, Adeniji was on the Cleveland Browns. However, Adeniji was placed on injured reserve after suffering a knee injury in the preseason. Adeniji played for the Minnesota Vikings in 2023.

Alas, Adeniji saw the bulk of his NFL action during his tenure with the Cincinnati Bengals from 2020-22. The Bengals drafted Adeniji with the No. 180 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

He made five starts as a rookie and 15 total appearances. Adeniji suffered a torn pectoral muscle ahead of the 2021 campaign and consequently only played in nine games that season. In his final season with the Bengals, Adeniji served as a backup right tackle.

Able to play both guard and tackle, Hakeem Adeniji provides some versatility on the offensive line. The Dallas Cowboys will welcome the help up front. Last season, the Cowboys gave up 52 sacks, the third-most in the NFL.

Emmit Smith weighs in on Cowboys’ Super Bowl drought

When the Dallas Cowboys come up in discussion, the conversation almost always shifts to the organization’s near 30-year drought of winning a Super Bowl. Emmitt Smith is “sick” of hearing about it. 

Smith won three Super Bowls in Dallas and was a part of its last Super Bowl-winning team in 1995. Over that time, the Cowboys’ division rivals have seen more success, which Smith believes is a “crying shame.”

“I’m sick of it,” Smith said on 96.7 The Ticket in Dallas. “I’m sick of it for two reasons. One, we have allowed others to come and nitpick at the star and make fun of the star and that’s what happens when you give other people, or other organizations — now all of a sudden over the last 20 years they win two Super Bowls and think they’re the best thing on the doggone planet, and everywhere I go I hear, ‘Go Birds.’ I’m sick of hearing, ‘Go Birds.’ I’m always asking where are you going? You still got a long way to go to get to us.

“That part bugs me. It bugs me because in my heart I truly believe our organization should be contending for an NFC championship and even a Super Bowl at least once or twice every decade because every team recycles every decade. So, for us not to be there over the last 30 years is a crying shame.”

On3’s Nick Geddes also contributed to this report.