It’s rivalry week for the Dallas Cowboys, who will take on the Green Bay Packers this Sunday. Ahead of the matchup, the Cowboys have made some notable roster moves.
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“The @dallascowboys signed RB Emari Demercado on Tuesday. The club also signed G Nick Leverett to the practice squad and released CB Alex Austin from the practice squad,” Dallas Cowboys Public Relations posted on X.
Emari Demercado returns after he was cut by the team last week to make space for left guard Tyler Smith. He will be behind Tyler Goodson on the depth chart, and he might not get to see time on the field unless those ahead of him are injured. He played two games for the Cowboys this season and rushed for 15 yards.
It was expected that the Cowboys would bring back Demercado, as their running back depth has been hampered.
Nick Leverett returns to the team after also having been recently waived. He played all five games for Dallas this year on special teams.
Leverett was previously with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals, and New England Patriots. He has played 28 games across seven years, seeing the most playing time during the 2022 season with the Bucs. Leverett has started 11 games so far.
The third move goes the other way. Cornerback Alex Austin was released from the practice squad after a short stay. The Cowboys signed him on September 30 amid a wave of injuries in the secondary.
Austin had begun practicing with the Cowboys after he signed. He could have been an important presence on the roster, especially with the secondary being afflicted with what looks like a bug (wide receiver Jonathan Mingo has also been ill). Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. turned very sick ahead of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game and was sent home. Da’Ron Bland and Caelen Carosn were also sent home after being ill on Monday.
All of this lines up with what Schottenheimer told reporters on Monday.
“I’m not going to get to a bunch of them. Obviously, there’s a competitive advantage,” Schottenheimer said, according to Tommy Yarrish of DallasCowboys.com. “But there’ll be some roster adjustments you guys will see. Some will be more noticeable than others, and some will be subtle as you look at it.”
These three new moves look like the subtle ones, with the rotational changes he’s promised for Green Bay still to come.
Emari Demercado back on Cowboys’ active roster
Of the three moves, Demercado’s is the one with the most story behind it. He spent three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals from 2023 to 2025 and appeared in 40 games. In that span, he rushed for 819 yards and three touchdowns on 126 carries.
This year, the Kansas City Chiefs signed him in March and then cut him. Dallas claimed him in August, a day after surprisingly waiving 2025 fifth-round pick Jaydon Blue. Demercado was upfront about how it felt.
“It’s been obviously a roller coaster getting cut; nobody’s excited about that,” Demercado said of his release by Kansas City and after getting immediately signed by the Cowboys. “But to get the call that I was coming back here, I just bought a house here this summer, so couldn’t have written it better.”
His role changed quickly, too. He arrived as the likely RB3 behind Javonte Williams and Malik Davis, but Davis suffered a season-ending hip injury just days before Week 1, which moved Demercado up to RB2.
Dallas may have started with the small stuff. But with Schottenheimer promising more adjustments, Sunday in Green Bay will show how far the changes really go.