Cowboys ‘Inside Knowledge': Ex 1st-Rounder Takk McKinley Signs

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys - benefiting from what they believe is "inside knowledge'' - brought free-agent defensive end Takkaris McKinley in for a visit at training camp.

And now comes a second chance.

“Obviously we have him here for a reason,” COO Stephen Jones said back in Oxnard. “We’re very interested in him.”

And now McKinley - coming off a torn Achilles injury that cut short his 2021 season with the Cleveland Browns - is a Cowboy, joining up with the club on Wednesday via the practice squad.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones previously said the 6-2-250 pass-rusher McKinley, 26, "has a chance to play this year. We’ll see where we go from here.”

The Cowboys believe they have answers at defensive end even in the wake of Randy Gregory's departure to Denver. DeMarcus Lawrence is at one end and rookie Sam Williams, Dorance Amstrong, Tarell Basham and Dante Fowler - who, like McKinley, has a connection here thanks to Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who was the head coach in Atlanta when McKinley was drafted there - have all helped:

BREAKING: TAKK signs w #dallascowboys - JUST WHAT DOCTOR FISH ORDERED! https://t.co/OxUOLo8ksZ pic.twitter.com/sWij3AZ6Vv
— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) November 16, 2022

McKinley, picked 26th overall by the Falcons in 2017, burst onto the scene in his first two NFL seasons, totaling 13 sacks, and he has 20 career sacks in 60 games. But he's bounced around the league a bit since then and is now looking for a reboot.

“We had him in for a visit, loved him coming out,” Stephen Jones, adding that Dallas is "a huge fan ... of the way he plays the game — play temperament, play style. And then of course the obvious: Dan coached him. We’ve got a lot of inside knowledge there, too. You can’t have enough guys who can rush the passer.”

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