Cowboys bring in former Ohio State star J.T. Barrett for tryout to salvage NFL career

His NFL career hasn’t ever gained traction, but the Dallas Cowboys are giving former Ohio State star J.T. Barrett a chance.

J.T. Barrett has yet to play in an NFL regular-season game, but he’s getting a fresh chance. According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, the Dallas Cowboys are bringing the former Ohio State signal-caller in on a tryout basis.

Barrett has a clear place as one of the best quarterbacks in college football in the past decade, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors in three of his four seasons at Ohio State and setting a bunch of school records. He holds the Big Ten record with 147 touchdowns responsible for, by a healthy margin over second-place Trace McSorley’s 107. He went 38-6 as the Buckeyes’ starter, with 104 touchdown passes and just 30 interceptions.

Barrett went undrafted in 2018, and he signed with the New Orleans Saints as a free agent. He spent that season on their practice squad, then came back to the Saints in 2019 after a brief stint with the Seattle Seahawks in August of that year. He landed on the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad toward the end of the 2019 season and was waived in early August last year.

Could J.T. Barrett earn a spot on the Cowboys’ roster?

When Dak Prescott went down with a broken leg last season, the Cowboys learned the value of having quarterback depth. Andy Dalton had them in a position to stay afloat, but then he was injured and had a bout with COVID-19. In back-to-back November games, both losses, Dallas started Ben DiNucci and Garrett Gilbert under center. It would have remained difficult without Prescott, but there was no recovering from a 2-7 record at that point.

Barrett will be joined in a tryout by undrafted rookie Brady Davis. If he gets beyond that, he’ll move toward competing with Cooper Rush, DiNucci and Gilbert for one or two spots on the depth chart behind Prescott. Those guys are not formidable competition, but the Cowboys have prior familiarity with all three.

All Barrett can ask for is a chance. The Cowboys will give him one, and there’s definitely a chance he shows enough to be kept around for the next stage of offseason competition.