by Ryan Bush
One moment safe and secure on the 53-man roster, Dallas
Cowboys quarterback Stephen McGee was waived in the next instant Saturday
morning when the Cowboys signed Cincinnati
tight end Colin Cochart to the active roster.
McGee’s status as the team’s third quarterback behind Kyle Orton and
Tony Romo was something of an uncertainty through the final stages of the
preseason as injuries started to pile up around him, increasing the likelihood of
the Cowboys going long at other positions, thereby forcing McGee out.
That was exactly the scenario that played out, though not in
the predicted order. For a few short
hours, McGee thought he was part of the team for the fourth consecutive year,
only to find himself cut adrift as the round game of waiver claims reached
Valley Ranch.
With Jason Witten’s status for Wednesday night’s game
against the New York Giants still a toss-up, the Cowboys elected to sign
Cochran as an insurance policy at the tight end position in case Witten’s lacerated spleen
does in fact prevent him from playing.
Signing Cochran doesn’t necessarily mean the Cowboys are
committed to him long-term, nor does it mean they’ve given up on McGee, a
fourth-round draft selection in the 2009 draft.
Head coach Jason Garrett is pleased with the level of talent behind
Witten on the depth chart in John Phillips and James Hanna, but needed another
tight end to ensure that he has three available to open the season.
Should doctors announce Witten to be out of the danger zone where his
health is concerned, whenever that should happen to be, the team might choose
to release Cochran and attempt to re-sign McGee. If recent history suggests anything, it’s
that a third quarterback is a must-have for the Cowboys, who have watched McGee
take to the field during the regular season in each of the past two
seasons. Garrett isn’t one to tempt the
football gods for too long in this area, having earned a spot start on Thanksgiving
Day as the No. 3 signal-caller himself on Thanksgiving Day in 1994 as a member
of the Cowboys. McGee’s name would have
to be the first on the list should the Cowboys go shopping for one.
All of that depends, of course, on whether McGee is picked
up by another team in the meantime.
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