According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Dallas Cowboys plan to sign UFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks linebacker Willie Harvey Jr.
He was in for a workout last week, and before playing for the UFL this season was with the Browns from 2019-2021.
He led the league in tackles and led all linebackers in tackles for loss, passes defended, and forced fumbles en route to earning All-UFL honors.
No details have been released as to how long or how much he will be signing for, but I would assume it will not be that much. We know how this team likes to do bussiness.
All-UFL LB Willie Harvey Jr. plans to sign with the #Cowboys, per source. https://t.co/ThlGN243kh
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 18, 2024
While Harvey has made a name for himself in spring football leagues in recent years, he also was in the NFL a few years ago as I noted above.
Could this be what he needed to relight that fire he needs to be a solid NFL player?
In The Past
The Cleveland Browns signed Harvey as an undrafted free agent in 2019, and he was up and down between the active roster and the practice squad.
He only appeared in two regular-season games for the Browns in 2019 and two more in 2021, but was only able to muster two total tackles.
After the Browns waived Harvey for a final time in August 2022, the Battlehawks selected him in the 2022 XFL draft, and he revived his career from there.
All-UFL linebacker Willie Harvey plans to sign soon with the Cowboys, a person familiar with the situation said. He led the UFL with 76 tackles in 2024, including a second-best nine tackles for loss. The Dallas-area resident played for the St. Louis Battlehawks.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) June 18, 2024
Cowboys UFL Success
I will give the front office credit, when it comes to finding gems in the UFL, they have hit a home run with Brandon Aubrey and KaVontae Turpin. So until this fails, I will trust them.
Turpin came from the USFL, but you know what I mean.
in Aubrey’s rookie year in the NFL last season, he made 36 of his 38 field goal attempts and was a Pro Bowler and First Team All-Pro.
Although Harvey did not have great success in his first stint in the NFL, sometimes it takes gaining confidence like he just led the UFL with 76 tackles in 2024, including a second-best nine tackles for loss.
We have no idea how this is going to play out, but with how underwhelming this offseason has been, at least they went out and got someone who played well recently.
Helps The Room
Adding Harvey to the Cowboys linebacker room will help them, he adds depth for Mike Zimmer.
Leighton Vander Esch retired, and although they signed Eric Kendricks, they could use Harvey to be at the top of his game.
Damone Clark was going to be asked to play a bigger role this season, but maybe now he can relax a little bit.
Clark has the talent but has not been consistent enough in his first few seasons.
Now they can continue to ease DeMarvion Overshown back from his ACL injury and not be worried about it.
Here are some of #Cowboys LB Willie Harvey's highlights…. via Willie Harvey's YouTube Channel:https://t.co/UjGIXm3Ukj pic.twitter.com/Bbwyi0gr8G
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) June 18, 2024
Marist Liufau is the Cowboy’s 3rd-round pick from Notre Dame, but he has too much to learn to be thrown into the fire like he might have been without this signing of Harvey.
The linebacker group might have a chance to be better than it was s year ago. With Kendricks, Harvey, and Clark if he can be consistent might have enough depth to not be a weakness in 2024.
The Cowboys don’t start training camp until mid-July, so we have a long way to go before we may get to see him in action. You can look at some of my tweets above and you will see how he played this season and some of this highlights on YouTube.
The next order or bussiness should be signing CeeDee Lamb before training camp starts. Let’s wait and see.
