IRVING, Texas -- Guard Brian Waters said he's not a savior for the Dallas Cowboys' offensive line, but to team executive vice president Stephen Jones, Waters' signing this week solves several questions.
The Cowboys had depth issues along the line because of injuries to Nate Livings (knee) and Ronald Leary (knee) and the slow development of younger prospects such as Kevin Kowalski and David Arkin.
Waters' signing means, for now, that the Cowboys won't have to move right tackle Doug Free to right guard and elevate right tackle Jermey Parnell from the second team to the first.
"Getting Waters takes it from being a big, big question mark to, I think, not only not a question mark on the front end, but having good depth," Jones said. "Take a starter in (Mackenzy) Bernadeau, who may ultimately be a backup here, and I'm sure he's just not going to give the job away. He's been competing well, we've been pleased with him. We have (Phil) Costa (at center) -- and you know what we think about Costa and Parnell -- (that) gives you a solid eight there. We still got (David) Arkin and (Darrion) Weems. We're pleased."
Waters' first practice Wednesday saw him running with the second-team offense at right guard. It appears doubtful Waters can step in and play significantly Sunday night against the visiting New York Giants.
But Waters looked good during his workout, Jones said, which didn't surprise him.
"Obviously, I have a lot of experience," said Waters, who enters his 13th NFL season. "I have game-time experience, so I feel if those guys need me in any way, form or fashion, I think I can offer insight on some different ways to do things and different players that I’ve played against. Obviously, this center is young and smart. He’s not going to need much help from me. I’m probably going to need more help from him than he’s going to need from me."
