Packers to see 3 familiar faces in Cowboys matchup, and Green Bay’s front office looks smarter with every Dallas snap
Two former first-round picks and a one-time practice squad running back now play in Dallas, and their production tells a story Green Bay will recognize.
The Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys meet on “Sunday Night Football,” and the matchup has an unusual twist. Dallas has three players on its 53-man roster who spent time in Green Bay. Two of them spent most of their careers with the Packers. The third barely registered during his stint, and plenty of fans may not remember him at all.
Ahead of Sunday’s game, here is how each former Packer has fared with the Cowboys.
DT Kenny Clark
The best of the group, both in what he did for the Packers and in what he has done for Dallas, is defensive tackle Kenny Clark. Green Bay drafted him in the first round in 2016, and he went to the Cowboys as part of the Micah Parsons trade last year.
Clark is still playing under the contract he signed with the Packers in 2024. He is in the second-to-last year of the deal, with a salary of $21.5 million this year and $20 million slated for next year. He’s a starter, and he lines up alongside Quinnen Williams on the Dallas defensive front.
Clark is no longer in his prime, though. He entered the league young, but after so many seasons he is now 31 years old. According to PFF, he is playing the worst football of his career through five games, with a 57.6 defensive grade. Run defense was a major strength early in his career, and it has been a problem for a few years now. He also isn’t as efficient as a pass rusher as he used to be, with seven pressures, no sacks, and seven stops.
He remains a useful player, just not nearly as effective as he was for Green Bay at his peak. Clark has played 230 defensive snaps and still offers versatility. Most of his snaps come in the B-gap, but he has also taken some at nose tackle and even over the tackle.
EDGE Rashan Gary
The second former Packer is edge defender Rashan Gary, Green Bay’s first first-round pick in 2019. Gary started out as a backup and developmental player, then established himself as a true No. 1 edge defender before regressing after an ACL injury.
The Packers traded him for a fourth-round pick in the offseason, and that deal looks great now. Gary doesn’t resemble the player he once was in Green Bay. After the trade, he signed an adjusted two-year, $32 million contract with the Cowboys. He’s making $16 million in each of the next two seasons, though his cap hit this year is much lower for Dallas.
Gary has 15 pressures, one sack, and eight stops. According to PFF, his 59.6 defensive grade is his lowest since his rookie year with the Packers. The run defense stands out as the biggest issue. Tape has shown him jogging on plays, and his 46.9 run-defense grade reflects that lack of intensity.
Gary has played 223 defensive snaps as a starting edge defender. Based on snap share, he’s the No. 2 edge rusher for Dallas at 67.37% of the defensive snaps, right behind Donovan Ezeiruaku.
RB Tyler Goodson
Running back Tyler Goodson‘s time in Green Bay was a different experience. He went undrafted in 2022, signed with the Packers, and didn’t make the initial roster. Instead, he spent most of his rookie season on the practice squad before being elevated to the active roster late in the year, after the Packers were already eliminated from playoff contention.
Goodson signed a future contract for the 2023 training camp and preseason, but Green Bay waived him in final cuts. He then had stints with the Indianapolis Colts and Atlanta Falcons. In mid-September, the Cowboys signed him off the Falcons’ practice squad to their active roster.
Goodson has played only 11 offensive snaps for the Cowboys, with nine carries for 34 yards. That’s 3.8 yards per attempt, including 2.11 yards after contact per attempt. He isn’t a big part of the offense, since Javonte Williams is the starting running back. Goodson is a reasonable backup option, but he shouldn’t swing the game by any means.
Still, he sits as RB2 because Dallas has dealt with issues at the position. This week, the Cowboys signed Emari Demercado back to the 53-man roster, and Malik Davis is on injured reserve. It isn’t a particularly talented room. Dallas even has another former Packer on its practice squad at running back in Israel Abanikanda.
For now, Goodson is the second running back behind Williams, even though the Cowboys don’t use much of a rotation in the backfield.
