Cowboys Add Ex-Vikings Lineman
The offensive line has been a complex topic in the Twin Cities throughout the last decade, with underwhelming pass protection all over the place, despite employing mainly pocket passing quarterbacks. This year, the front office has finally emphasized ending those struggles.
Cowboys Add Ex-Vikings OL
In the 2023 season, the club entered the season with an unchanged line, including the interior trio of Ezra Cleveland, Garrett Bradbury, and Ed Ingram, without having much of a backup threat challenging those guys.
Among those backups was veteran Hakeem Adeniji. He started the 2023 campaign on Minnesota’s practice squad but was signed to the 53-man roster a few weeks into the season.
Now, Adeniji has signed a deal for 2025 with the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas announced the signing on their team website.
They shared, “FRISCO, Texas – With a week to go before the NFL Draft, the Cowboys are continuing to make additions on the offensive line, agreeing to terms with former Browns offensive lineman and Garland native Hakeem Adeniji.”
The Cowboys had some truly dominant offensive lines in the past. Nowadays, the line is still decent with a couple of solid pieces, but the days of Travis Frederick, Zack Martin, and Tyron Smith are gone.
“The Cowboys have now signed three external free agents on the offensive line with the addition of Adeniji, joining Saahdiq Charles and Robert Jones from earlier points in the offseason,” Cowboys writer Tommy Yarrish added. “The right guard position is still up for grabs, with Adeniji possessing the ability to play at both tackle and guard for Dallas. He’ll likely be battling Charles, Jones, Brock Hoffman and T.J. Bass for the vacancy left by Zack Martin, as well as backup jobs across the entire line.”
Adeniji began his NFL career as a sixth-round pick out of Kansas in 2020. The Bengals selected the versatile blocker who started all 48 games during his college career.
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In his debut season, he started five contests and appeared in a total of 15. Unfortunately, he lost momentum when he tore his pec in his first full NFL offseason and was forced to sit out half of the 2021 campaign. Adeniji returned in November and started all nine regular-season games that year and four more in the postseason, including a Super Bowl.
When the Bengals addressed their offensive line, a clear weakness in their Super Bowl runner-up season, Adeniji was replaced. He remained as Cincinnati’s backup swing tackle and started one of the 15 games he appeared in that year, in addition to another three postseason starts.
The Bengals waived him after his third preseason, and the Vikings added him once he cleared waivers. In 2023, he appeared in four games with the Vikings, but only logged special-teams snaps. Last year, a knee injury cost him the entire season. He spent the entire year on Cleveland’s IR.
Adeniji might face even more competition, considering Dallas’ history of drafting linemen. Yarrish wrote, “With three new additions on the offensive line, something to keep an eye on in the draft is when and if the Cowboys will still decide to use a pick on an offensive lineman. They have in the last seven draft cycles, and very well could look that direction at any point when they go on the clock in a week’s time.”
The lineman is 27 years old, and if he survives the roster cuts in August, he will face the Vikings in the 2025 season.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
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