The Dallas Cowboys waived wide receiver Traeshon Holden this week to create a roster spot for veteran pass rusher Von Miller, who agreed to a one-year, $5.5 million deal.
The move ended Holden’s second stint with the team after he spent the 2025 season on the practice squad.
Holden, a 6-foot-2, 208-pound receiver from Kissimmee, Fl., went undrafted in 2025 after a productive college career.
He began at Alabama from 2020 to 2022, appearing in 30 games and recording 46 receptions for 570 yards and seven touchdowns.
After transferring to Oregon, he enjoyed his most consistent stretch. In two seasons with the Ducks, Holden caught 82 passes for 1,170 yards and 11 touchdowns.
His senior year in 2024 was particularly strong: 45 receptions for 718 yards and five scores, earning honorable mention All-Big Ten honors while helping Oregon’s high-powered offense. Career totals stood at 128 catches, 1,740 yards, and 18 touchdowns across 57 games.
The Cowboys signed Holden as an undrafted free agent shortly after the 2025 draft. He showed flashes in training camp and the preseason but was waived during final cuts, then re-signed to the practice squad. He did not appear in a regular-season game.
Dallas brought him back on a reserve/future contract in January 2026, giving him another chance to compete in a crowded receiver room led by CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.
Holden’s latest opportunity ended quickly. In the preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks, he muffed a punt near his own goal line late in the fourth quarter.
The defense prevented it from becoming a score, but the error, combined with the need to add Miller, made the decision straightforward. Several other receivers, including undrafted rookie Camden Brown, also stood out in the same game.
The waiver is a familiar NFL reality. Holden’s college production, especially his efficient, big-play work at Oregon after leaving Alabama, showed he belonged on a roster.
Size, reliable hands, and experience in two major programs gave him tools. Yet depth-chart battles and a single special-teams mistake can decide a young player’s fate when a team needs to accommodate a high-profile veteran.
Holden will now hit waivers. If unclaimed, he becomes a free agent and could sign elsewhere or even return to Dallas’s practice squad later. At 25, with a proven college résumé that peaked in Eugene, he still has a path to an NFL opportunity.
For the Cowboys, the transaction reflects their immediate priorities: adding proven pass-rush help while trimming the wide-receiver competition.
