Cowboys Have RB Miles Sanders as 'Top Target'?

Contrary to the opinions of the "casuals,'' the Dallas Cowboys are well-aware of what they presently employ in their running backs room.

That awareness includes the possibility that the room represents the greatest weakness on an otherwise solid - arguably playoff-worthy - roster.

Ezekiel Elliott is listed as the starter, but there is no pretense about him being the same player who once won a pair of NFL rushing titles here. He has the name recognition but is coming off the two worst seasons of his career in terms of yards per attempt.

The Cowboys have Rico Dowdle as "RB1B'' and view him as a promising prospect ... but no more than that.

And the rest of the fellas? Has-beens and wanna-bes, from young fullback Hunter Luepke (viewed as a keeper) to veteran Royce Freeman (who might make it due to special teams) to Malik Davis and Deuce Vaughn, who will need to show off in this preseason.

But what if none of it really works?

We have kicked around in this space the idea of Miles Sanders being a better running back than anybody in this bunch, and that Dallas should track him down should he become available.

But ... Miles Sanders is not presently available. And there is floated around out there a great deal of misinformation about that.

Could he get cut by the Panthers because Carolina selected Jonathon Brooks from Texas in the NFL Draft while also having Chuba Hubbard on board? That's a theory being offered up - but the theory ignores the fact that the Panthers would, by cutting him, incur $7.5 million in dead money.

If he's so good - and he once was, in Philly, where with the Eagles in 2022 he had 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns - why would Carolina want to "pay the cap'' $7.5 million to not have him?

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, who has a weekly habit of offering up "sourced information'' about the Cowboys that the people who actually work for the team debunk on a weekly basis, "reports'' that Sanders is in a Cowboys "short-list'' of options and that he is a Cowboys "top target.''

We'll say that phrasing is putting it too strongly. ... and we'll suggest that ESPN is using not "sources'' here but rather "logic'' - with a problem.

Related: Zeke's Zip: Cowboys at Camp VIDEO Vs. Rams

No, the Panthers aren't cutting Sanders in a "cap-saving move''; that's simply false. Trading him? That's more financially viable for the Panthers, but he's got three years left on his contract (with an admitted escape hatch after this year), so that's not ideally "Blow It Up''-friendly for Dallas.

"Short-list'' and "top target'' are eyebrow-raising catchphrases. We'll try to frame it more accurately: The Cowboys are aware of their possible shortcomings in the running backs room and are aware of Miles Sanders. And responsibly, that's about as far as this goes right now.