Who are Al-Quadin Muhammad and Shaka Toney, the Dallas Cowboys’ newest signings?

The Dallas Cowboys suffered a huge setback just a few days into training camp when defensive end Sam Williams injured his knee during practice and ended up needing surgery, ending his season. “That’s a really tough break,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said. “Especially for him. Because he was clearly going to be a primary contributor.”

With options slim behind Williams, the Cowboys brought in four veteran pass rushers - Carl Lawson, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Shaka Toney, and Justin Hollins. Two have already been signed since then - Muhammed and Toney. Let’s get to know them a bit.

Who is Al-Quadin Muhammad?

The Cowboys signed Muhammad to a one-year deal on Thursday. Muhammad hasn’t had a smooth time in the NFL thus far. He joined the NFL in 2017 when the New Orleans Saints chose him in the sixth round, but they cut him at the end of the season. The Indianapolis Colts picked him up and after a slow start, he eventually began to get more playing time by the end of the season. It wasn’t until 2021 that he became the Colts’ full-time starter. In his four seasons with the Colts, Muhammad had 11 sacks, 22 tackles for loss, 127 total tackles, and three fumble recoveries. He also had at least 24 pressures a season.

In 2022, Muhammad followed Colts’ former defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus to the Chicago Bears, where Eberflus was hired as head coach. Muhammad struggled with the Bears though and was released after one season.

In 2023, he went back to the Colts on a one-year deal, but was released and re-signed to the practice squad. He was given a suspension for violating the league’s Performance Enhancing Drugs policy in December and by the end of the season, he became a free agent without having played in a single game.

To wrap things up here, Muhammad hasn’t played in a game since the 2022 season when he made 16 appearances (nine starts). If he could play with the Cowboys as he did at his peak, he could be a significant contributor, but that was quite some time ago. Not to mention, his off the field issues could cause problems. In addition to the suspension for violating the PED policy, Muhammad was suspended twice in college, once for an altercation with his roommate and once for being involved in an exotic rental car scheme which violated NCAA rules and led to his dismissal. In 2020, Muhammad was ejected from a game against the Titans for punching offensive tackle Ty Sambrailo. So, he’ll also need to get all that under control.

The terms of Muhammad’s contract were not made available to the public. Depending on how he does at training camp, the Cowboys could still explore other options.

Who is Shaka Toney?

Shaka Toney played college football with Micah Parsons at Penn State. Like Parsons, Toney was drafted in the 2021 Draft, but he wasn’t selected until the seventh round by the Washington Commanders. At Penn State, Toney was the full-time edge rusher and tallied 21.5 sacks in his four years there.

In Washington, Toney got limited playing time and did the majority of his work on special teams. In two seasons, he recorded just eight pressures on 112 pass rush reps, 16 tackles, and 1.5 sacks. Unfortunately, Toney also sat out the 2023 season with a suspension after betting on games in the 2022 season. He was reinstated in April 2024, but Dallas’ old DC and Commanders’ new head coach Dan Quinn released him a week later.

To sum this one up, Toney hasn’t done much at all in the NFL yet and also hasn’t played in a game since the 2022 season. He played well in college and joining up with Parsons is of course a plus. But he’ll have to prove himself in training camp as well.

How do Muhammad and Toney fit in to the Dallas D?

Though there are not a ton of positive points for either player, neither Muhammad nor Toney will be expected to play a significant role on Mike Zimmer’s defense, so the expectations aren’t incredibly high as it is. The Cowboys just need some depth and options, neither of which they had before.