2023 Pre-Season Rank #119, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #119, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #133.  Peak Period: 2015-19

After eight years in Minnesota, Eric Kendricks joined the Los Angeles Chargers but enters this season with Dallas. However, any Hall of Fame talk (if any) has stalled since his monster 2019 season. Has he done enough for the Vikings to honor him in some capacity in the future?

2023 Pre-Season Rank #68, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #77, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #117.  Peak Period: 2018-22

As good as Dalvin Cook was with the Vikings, the elite Running Back is giving way to the elite Wide Receiver, and the Vikings released him after a four-year run of Pro Bowls and over 5,000 Yards.  He joined the New York Jets with high hopes, but he disappointed with only 214 Yards.  Over the summer, Cook finally found a home in Dallas, but he is low on their depth chart.  This could be his last year in the NFL, and this is not a Hall of Fame career, just a very good four-year run in Minnesota.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our pre-2021 revision of our top 50 Dallas Cowboys of all-time.

As for all of our top 50 players in football we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the NFL. 

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

This is our first revision after our inaugural unveiling, with only one slight elevation. There are no new entries.

1. Emmitt Smith

2. Bob Lilly

3. Roger Staubach

4. Randy White

5. Mel Renfro

You can find the entire list here.

The only jump was Running Back, Ezekiel Elliot, who advanced one spot to #47.

We welcome your input and commentsand as always, we thank you for your support.

We have another major retirement in the National Football League as Jason Witten has called it a career.

Drafted in the 3rd Round out of Tennessee in 2003, Witten would see significant playing time in his rookie year but in 2004 he would rise to Pro Bowl status with a 980 Yard season. This would be the first of many seasons where the Dallas Cowboy would be considered an elite Tight End.

From 2005 to 2010 he would be named to six more Pro Bowls, which would also include two First Team All Pro Selections. Four more Pro Bowls would follow (2012-14 & 2017). Four of his seasons would see Witten exceed over 90 Receptions and 1,000 Yards, incredible numbers for a Tight End.

Witten first retired after the 2017 season, and went into the broadcast booth for ESPN for their Monday Night Football package.  He unretired, coming back in 2019, and joined the Las Vegas Raiders last year.

Witten retires as the all-time Cowboys leader in Receptions (1,215) and Receiving Yards (12,977).  and he retires with 13,046 Yards and 74 Touchdowns in total.

With his 11 Pro Bowls and statistical accumulation he has an excellent shot at entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026. He will certainly have a prime position on our Notinhalloffame.com Football list.  In our 2020 pre-season rank of active players and their Hall of Fame credentials, Witten was placed #9 overall and #2 in Tight Ends behind Rob Gronkowski.

We will be creating his Notinhalloffame.com profile shortly in the 2026 section.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to thank Jason Witten for all of the memories on the field and we wish him the best in his post-playing career.

A late First Round pick from Wisconsin, Travis Frederick was an immediate starter for the Dallas Cowboys when he arrived in 2013.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  We have a new one to unveil today, that of the Dallas Cowboys. 

Known to many as America’s Team, the Cowboys are one of the most recognized professional sports programs on the globe.  Formed in 1960, the Cowboys have won five Super Bowls (VI, XII, XXVII, XXVIII & XXX), and when they play, regardless of their record, NFL fans pay attention.

As for all of our top 50 players in football we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the NFL.

3. Playoff accomplishments.

4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2019 Season.

The complete list can be found here, but as always we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Emmitt Smith

2. Bob Lilly

3. Roger Staubach

4. Randy White

5. Mel Renfro

We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.  Up next, will be the Seattle Seahawks.

Look for our more material coming soon!

As always we thank you for your support.

You don’t usually talk about personal services contracts, but that is how Don Perkins was signed by Dallas…providing they got an NFL team.  They did, and the NFL allowed it, as the Cowboys had to send a compensatory 9^th Round Pick to the Baltimore Colts who chosen him that year.

After a bad scouting combine, Everson Walls would not hear his name called during the 1981 Draft.  The Cowboys would sign him, and it was easy to say that the move benefited both parties.

Charles Haley had already won two Super Bowls as a San Francisco 49er and was coming off his third Pro Bowl year in four seasons.  He was still very much in his prime, but his volatile nature became too much for Head Coach, George Siefert to handle, he was dealt to Dallas, who was happy to have him.

A superstar at Arizona State, the Dallas Cowboys, drafted Danny White in the third round of 1974.  With the knowledge that he was going to be used primarily as a Punter, White joined the Memphis Southmen of the upstart World Football League, where he could play Quarterback.  The league folded quickly, and he joined Dallas in 1976, as the Punter, but also as Roger Staubach’s backup.

The Dallas Cowboys have been known throughout their history as having outstanding Offensive Linemen, and John Niland was the first one they acquired with a first round pick (5^th Overall in 1966).  

“Dandy” Don Meredith arrived from SMU to the Dallas Cowboys, and the original Cowboy would become Dallas’ star Quarterback in 1963. 

Ralph Neely played his entire career with the Dallas Cowboys, where the All-American from Oklahoma found a long-term home.

Playing his college ball at Florida A&M (well before they were an FBS school), Nate Newton did not receive a lot of attention from the NFL, and he had to settle for signing with the Washington Redskins as a Free Agent.  He didn't make the team, but he found a home in the USFL with the Tampa Bay Bandits.  In the upstart league, Newton shined, and following the folding of the league, he was named to the all-time USFL Team.

“Prime Time” Deion Sanders had already proven himself as a superstar in Pro Football, as he was already a four-time Pro Bowl and three-time First Team All-Pro.  The year before he signed with Dallas, he was a San Francisco 49er for one year, and he helped them win the Super Bowl and won the Defensive Player of the Year.

An All-American from Oklahoma State, Dez Bryant had a nice rookie season in 2010, where as an All-Rookie, he had 561 Receiving Yards with another 508 Yards via returns.  Bryant would move towards just receiving, which was the better move for him, as would be shown by his increased production in the air.

Playing his entire pro career with the Dallas Cowboys, Daryl Johnston found a role as one of the premier Fullbacks of his day.

A late First Round pick from Wisconsin, Travis Frederick was an immediate starter for the Dallas Cowboys when he arrived in 2013.

Used as a Punt Returner as a rookie, Tony Hill played a small role in Dallas’ Super Bowl XII win, but he would later become the Cowboys’ go-to Wide Receiver.

In 2001, Roy Williams was considered the best Defensive Back in the college ranks.  Playing for Oklahoma, Williams helped them the Sooners win the National Championship the year before, and in '01, he was an All-American, who won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Jim Thorpe Award and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.  The Cowboys coveted him and would trade up to obtain him with the eighth overall pick in the '01 draft.