The Cowboys dipped into the waiver wire to reshape their secondary, and claimed Trikweze Bridges (from the Chargers) and Reddrick “Reddy” Steward (from the Vikings).
To make room, Dallas moved on from cornerbacks Andrew Booth and Zion Childress—part of a broader post-cutdown shuffle aimed at stabilizing depth on the back end.
Trikweze Bridges: Length, Versatility, and Upside
Bridges arrives as a 2025 seventh-round pick who began his college career at Oregon (2019-2023), before transferring to Florida for 2024, where he toggled between safety and corner.
At 6’2”, 200 pounds with 33” plus arms, Bridges brings the kind of wingspan Dallas has coveted in outside corners.
His reported pro-day numbers (4.38 40, 10’7” broad) underscore an NFL frame with recovery speed, especially useful in the NFC East.
Expect the staff to start him outside, then explore matchups in big nickel versus tight ends and bigger slots.
Why it matters for Dallas: under new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, the Cowboys are leaning into a takeaways-and-tackling identity that prizes length at the catch point and rally speed to the ball.
Bridges checks both boxes and projects as immediate special-teams help with developmental starter upside.
Reddy Steward: Instincts, Ball Skills, and Special Teams Floor
A two-time First-Team All-Sun Belt corner at Troy, Steward built his resume on production and instincts—181 career tackles, 42 PBUs and 9 INTs—and he’s proven he can play outside or in the slot.
Steward also brings a Sunday resume: after entering the league as a 2024 UDFA with Chicago, he appeared in regular-season action and forced a fumble—the exact kind of ball disruption Eberflus emphasizes.
He spent the 2025 offseason with Minnesota before being waived and claimed by Dallas.
Why it matters for Dallas: Steward’s quickest path is core special teams and sub-packages.
His feel for route combos and willingness to tackle make him a natural in Eberflus’ zone-match looks, especially on money downs where eyes and anticipation matter.
How They Fit and What to Expect
- Immediate roles: Both should dress early for special teams—kick coverage, punt return/coverage—while the staff sorts out boundary and nickel rotations. Bridges’ size profiles for boundary snaps; Steward’s processing fits nickel and dime.
- Competition elevates the room: The claims came as Dallas rebalanced its 53, signaling a desire to add playable depth behind headliners and guard against injuries.
- Scheme fit: Eberflus’ history is the HITS ethos—hustle, intensity, takeaways, smart play. Bridges’ length and strike radius plus Steward’s ball skills map directly to that profile.
Two Complementary Tools
Trikweze Bridges brings size, versatility, and athletic upside that can develop into rotational—eventually starting—value on the outside.
Reddy Steward brings ready-made instincts, inside/outside flexibility and special-team’s utility with real ball production in his background.
Claimed together, they give the Cowboys two different but complementary tools to tighten coverage spacing, improve tackling on the perimeter, and chase the turnovers Eberflus demands.
If one hits in sub-packages this fall while the other grows into a boundary contributor, Dallas will have turned a waiver-wire Wednesday into a meaningful secondary upgrade.
