Do Cowboys RB Jaydon Blue’s blue Louis Vitton practice cleats mean he’s playing?
The Dallas Cowboys could be on the verge of seeing rookie running back Jaydon Blue make his long-awaited NFL debut in Week 5 against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. The former Texas product has been a healthy scratch through the first four games of the season, but with veteran Miles Sanders battling an ankle injury, Blue’s status is trending upward.
Sanders exited last Sunday’s 40-40 overtime tie with the Green Bay Packers in the second quarter and did not return. He logged just two carries for eight yards and added two receptions for 17 yards before leaving.
This week, Sanders has missed consecutive practices, meaning his shot at suiting up Sunday could go down the drain. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer said Sanders was trending toward playing, but his inability to get on the field raises concerns. According to reports, Sanders underwent an MRI and expects to test his ankle by Friday to determine his readiness.
In Sanders’ absence, Dallas has leaned on free-agent addition Javonte Williams, who has been one of the league’s most productive runners. Through four games, Williams has carried the ball 63 times for 312 yards, ranking sixth in the NFL, and he has scored four rushing touchdowns, tying him for second. His balanced skill set has made him the lead back, but if he needs a breather, the Cowboys could finally turn to Blue.
After Dallas chose him 149th overall in the 2025 draft, Blue dealt with ankle and heel injuries in the preseason but has now returned to full health. On Thursday, he was spotted at practice wearing blue Louis Vuitton cleats, the sort of custom shoes usually saved for game action (h/t Joseph Hoyt of The Dallas Morning News). Schottenheimer indicated that Blue is on the brink of activation and has been practicing well.
The rookie’s potential debut comes at a time when the Cowboys are also short-handed offensively. Wide receivers CeeDee Lamb and KaVontae Turpin are unavailable, increasing the need for explosive playmakers. At Texas, Blue showed he could rise to the occasion in space, tallying 1,161 rushing yards, 503 receiving yards, and 18 touchdowns. At the NFL Combine, he ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash and reportedly clocked 4.28 at his pro day.
The matchup against the Jets could also be favorable. New York enters Week 5 ranked 25th in run defense, allowing 130.5 yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry. They have already surrendered four rushing touchdowns and rank near the bottom of the league in tackling, with a 37.5 Pro Football Focus grade and 45 missed tackles. The absence of linebacker Quincy Williams due to a shoulder injury further weakens the Jets’ front seven.
If activated, Blue would serve as a change-of-pace option behind Williams and could contribute on special teams. The Cowboys have carried just three backs through the first four weeks, but a Sanders absence could open the door for Blue and potentially create the deepest backfield rotation Dallas has used this season.
A Brief History of Cowboys Contract Disputes Amid Micah Parsons, Jerry Jones Drama
Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons's contract saga feels all too familiar to those used to Dallas owner Jerry Jones's negotiation tactics.
Jones and the Cowboys have built a stubborn reputation out of dragging their feet and playing the waiting game when it comes to extending their biggest stars, and Parsons clearly is no exception. This offseason, the two-time All-Pro is negotiating to become the NFL's highest-paid non-quarterback (surpassing Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt, who's making $41 million a year), and there's no end in sight with only a few weeks before the start of the 2025 season.
As Parsons and Jones continue to dig more trenches in their ongoing contract war, here's a look at some of Dallas's most notable (and infamous) contract disputes from recent years.
Emmitt Smith, 1993
Technically, this list includes players from the last decade, but let's kick things off with a classic case: Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith engaged in one of the most notorious contract disputes in the organization's history that saw him hold out of the team's first two games.
Smith was entering his fourth campaign in Dallas and coming off a Super Bowl win in '92. He finally agreed to a four-year, $13.6 million deal that made him the league's highest-paid running back at the time.
That season, Smith yet again led the NFL in rushing yards (1,713) and helped the Cowboys defend their Super Bowl title.
Dez Bryant, 2015
Dallas wide receiver Dez Bryant played out his first five seasons with the team before contract talks started to get testy. Bryant, who was coming off an impressive campaign in which he hauled in a league-high 16 touchdowns, was then franchise-tagged ahead of the '15 season.
Bryant ended up getting a long-term deal done before the July 15 deadline that offseason, signing a five-year, $70 million extension. Injuries unfortunately derailed his '15 campaign, and he finished with 401 yards and three touchdowns in nine games.
Ezekiel Elliott, 2019
Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott decided to hold out in training camp ahead of the '19 season after putting together 1,400-plus rushing campaigns in two of his last three years.
In typical Jones fashion, the Dallas owner told the media not to worry about Elliott's future in Texas and that he would take care of it. Four days before the start of the season, Elliott inked a six-year, $90 million extension.
Elliott's agent who helped facilitate the deal was Rocky Arceneaux, who currently represents Bengals wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Zack Martin, 2023
Cowboys guard Zack Martin wasn't seeking an extension but rather a revised deal during his tense holdout ahead of the '23 season.
Martin was due to make $13.5 million that year, a number far below the league's top earners at his position. He held out of the first few weeks of training camp before the Cowboys folded: Martin secured a deal that increased his salary from '23 to '24 by $8.5 million and was fully guaranteed each season.
Martin went on to play two more season for the Cowboys before retiring upon the expiration of his contract.
CeeDee Lamb, 2024
Like all the Cowboys stars before him, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb had to wait for his bag, and it was Dallas who paid the ultimate price.
Many of the league's top wide receivers including the Vikings' Justin Jefferson, the Lions' Amon-Ra St. Brown, and the Eagles' A.J. Brown got paid in the summer of 2024, causing the market value at the position to creep higher and higher by the week. The longer the Cowboys waited, the costlier Lamb's extension became. Still, Jones sat on his hands and expressed little concern about locking up his star wideout, who was holding out of training camp.
Lamb ultimately signed a four-year, $136 million extension just two weeks before the start of the season. He went on to tally his fourth straight 1,000-plus yard receiving campaign.
ESPN's Bill Barnwell reported that the Cowboys spent $14 million more on Lamb's deal in '24 than they could have negotiated for in '23.
Dak Prescott, 2024
History repeated itself with Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott, who ended up with one of the most player-friendly deals in the league.
However, Prescott took quite the long and winding journey to get there. The Cowboys allowed Prescott to play out the final year of his rookie deal and then franchise-tagged him ahead of the 2020 season. The situation got more complicated for Dallas after Prescott suffered a season-ending ankle injury that year, giving the Cowboys two options: they could extend him, or tag him again and risk losing him for nothing in free agency the following season.
Dallas chose the former and signed him to a four-year, $160 million deal in March 2021.
Fast forward to September '24, and Prescott was once again looking at one year left on his contract. Just hours before Dallas' season opener, Prescott and the Cowboys agreed to a then-historic four-year, $240 million extension with $231 million guaranteed, making him the NFL's first ever $60-million-a-year man.
