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The offseason started a few weeks ago with voluntary workouts for veteran players. Now, after last week's NFL draft, it's time for the rookies and the undrafted free agents to start putting in their work during the next three days at Valley Ranch.

The first of two practice sessions starts Friday at 10:30 a.m. CT.

What happens today: The Cowboys will have seven draft picks, 21 undrafted free agents and at least 10 tryout invitees work out this weekend at Valley Ranch. CB Morris Claiborne, the sixth overall pick of the draft, will be in attendance but he won't practice as he's still recovering from left wrist surgery.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Saalim Hakim, WR, Tarleton State: The brother of former NFL player Az-Zahir Hakim spent just one season at Tarleton State after playing at Palomar Junior College in California. Hakim, an undrafted free agent, caught 18 passes for 358 yards and two touchdowns for Tarleton State, including a game-winning catch against Texas A&M Commerce in 2010. Hakim missed the deadline to declare for the draft after his 2010 season and spent 2011 in the United Football League. Hakim has been clocked at 4.29 in the 40.

Lionel Smith, CB, Texas A&M: The speedy cornerback -- clocked at 4.44 in the 40 -- can play both spots. During his college career, Smith stripped Cowboys sixth-round pick James Hanna after a reception and stopped Iowa State's James White at the goal line. The undrafted cornerback will have to make this team on special teams.

Ronald Leary, G, Memphis: The Cowboys held a private workout for Leary with offensive line coach Bill Callahan. The Cowboys like his size because he can play both guard spots, but the undrafted free agent suffers from chronic knee problems and his long-term future is in doubt. The Cowboys are taking a flier with Leary. If he remains healthy, he could be the backup guard.

Matt Johnson, S, Eastern Washington: The Cowboys got a fourth-round pick who picked up 17 interceptions during his career. Johnson can play center field and near the line of scrimmage. Johnson gives the Cowboys comfort in knowing he has a habit of defending receivers at the point of attack.

Danny Coale, WR, Virginia Tech: The fifth-round selection gets a chance to impress the coaches by working out of the slot and playing both receiver spots. He's got the speed to play the position and runs good routes and displays good hands. But can he beat out a group of backup receivers, led by Kevin Ogletree, to make the final 53-man roster?

Cowboys defensive end Jason Hatcher has switched agents, leaving Bus Cook for Dallas-based Jordan Woy.

Recently, Woy signed Cowboys outside linebacker Anthony Spencer, who left Roosevelt Barnes.

Cook, by the way, is the agent for first-round pick Morris Claiborne.

What this means for Hatcher in the short-term is uncertain. Last year, Hatcher signed a three-year $6 million contract with the Cowboys with an $1.8 million signing bonus. Hatcher is scheduled to get $1.5 million in base salary in 2012.

In 2011, Hatcher had his best season with the Cowboys. He finished with a career-high 28 tackles, the most since his 27 in 2007, and also had a career-high 4.5 sacks. Hatcher also started 10 games and is the projected starter at right end for 2012.

Outside linebacker Anthony Spencer will play for the Cowboys for at least $8.8 million after being franchised. The Cowboys could still work a long-term deal with Spencer or let him hit the free-agent market in 2013.

When the Cowboys selected two pass rushers in the draft -- Tyrone Crawford in the third round and Kyle Wilber in the fourth -- it sent a message that they not only want backups but replacements ready in case they lose Spencer.

Crawford started in only one of his two seasons at Boise State after spending two seasons in junior college. He's a little raw in terms of technique and playing time, which the Cowboys think is a good thing.

"We feel like he has a tremendous amount of upside," coach Jason Garrett said. "He played at a very good program. A number of players over the last couple of days were drafted from Boise. It is a competitive and nationally ranked program that plays against great competition. They practice the right way; they play the right way.

"We feel that he has grown every year he has been in that program. He has the physical potential to grow more. When you play the way he plays, you just feel like you put those things together. His relative inexperience, we feel his upside gives him a real chance to be what we want at that position."

Wilber is a little more polished than Crawford and has shown flexibility by playing in two different schemes at Wake Forest -- a 4-3 and 3-4. He can play end or outside linebacker, but it seems if he gets snaps in the nickel he could boost his stature with the coaches.

"It helped me more with my athleticism," said Wilber on switching schemes. "It let teams know that I can drop in coverage as well. A lot of teams told me that I had bad hips and I was able to prove them my senior year and show them that I’m actually able to drop into zone coverages and re-route receivers and athletic enough to stay with running backs and tight ends."

The Cowboys value Spencer but are not sure what to pay a player who some believe has underachieved. He had six sacks last season but none in the last four weeks, which included two losses to their NFC East rival New York Giants.

The Cowboys tell us Spencer is good against the run -- he did stuff seven plays for no yards last season, and he's good in pass coverage. Yet he had only one pass breakup last season. He had a career-high seven in 2009.

You get the feeling the Cowboys know what they have in Spencer, sort of what they have in running back Felix Jones, a good complementary player.

Spencer wants starter money for his position, an average of $8-$10 million a season. The Cowboys don't seem to want to pay that right now.

The team's addition of two new pass rushers raises more questions about Spencer's future.

One good thing about Cowboys coach Jason Garrett is that he's not afraid to stir things up.

Garrett has preached competition at various positions and that's what he's getting with Virginia Tech wide receiver Danny Coale, who was selected in the fifth-round selection Saturday.

PODCAST
Cowboys fifth-round pick Danny Coale talks about his road to the NFL and his chances of competing for a starting wide receiver spot in training camp. Listen

As it stands, Coale will battle Kevin Ogletree, Andre Holmes, Dwayne Harris and Raymond Radway for the two open receiver spots. The Cowboys could use five receivers in 2012 if needed. (We don't believe Dez Bryant and Miles Austin are in danger of not making the roster).

Coale has been described as a slot receiver who is fast with the ability to run good routes.

"He’s in the mix," Garrett said of Coale. "He’s a guy that we like physically; we like him intangibly; he’s got some position versatility and flexibility and we feel like he can be a special teams contributor. One of the really good things that we see when we pick these seven players is it creates a tremendous amount of competition on our football team."

Coale can play slot and outside receiver for the Cowboys. It was interesting to watch the war room in the fourth round and see receivers coach Jimmy Robinson talking to the decision makers. The Cowboys took two defensive players in Round 4 -- Kyle Wilber and Matt Johnson -- but it was clear they hoped Coale was still on the board in the fifth.

"Somebody asked earlier about needs versus taking the best player on the board," Garrett said. "I think if we look at this draft, we consistently took the best player or close to the best player on our board and that as evaluators makes you feel good, and the fact that they kind of crossed over to our perceived needs is really good for our football team because we’re getting the most quality player in terms of our evaluation. We bring him into the mix and create competition and we think that’s a real positive for everybody."

IRVING, Texas -- The Cowboys selected five defensive players in the 2012 NFL draft, the most since 2009 when they grabbed seven players on defense with their 12 picks.

The Cowboys used their first four selections on defensive players, moving eight spots from No. 14 to No. 6 in the first round to pick the top cornerback in the draft, LSU's Morris Clairborne.

In the third round, the Cowboys grabbed Boise State defensive end Tyrone Crawford, who is considered a project.

The Cowboys used the first of two fourth-round selections on linebacker Kyle Wilber at 113, a player who can play strong side linebacker. The Cowboys then took safety Matt Johnson with the last pick in the round, a compensatory selection. Johnson is a strong safety who finished with 17 interceptions in his career at Eastern Washington.

The run on defense ended in Round 5 when Virginia Tech wide receiver Danny Coale was selected.

It's the first time the Cowboys have selected four consecutive defensive players since 1982, when the franchise's first five selections were defensive players.

Out of 12 picks that season, five made the team and eight were defensive players overall. The first-round pick that season was cornerback Rod Hill from Kentucky State.

Last year, the Cowboys drafted six offensive players out of eight selections. But after a 2011 season in which the Cowboys finished 14th in total defense and 23rd against the pass, several changes were needed.

Dallas cut veteran cornerback Terence Newman and elected not to re-sign safety Abram Elam and two inside linebackers, Bradie James and Keith Brooking.

In free agency, the Cowboys signed cornerback Brandon Carr to a five-year $50.1 million deal and also gave Brodney Pool, a safety, a one-year contract.

Outside linebacker Anthony Spencer was kept off the free-agent market when the team placed the franchise tag on him worth $8.8 million.

IRVING, Texas -- The Cowboys have added depth to the tight end position by drafting Oklahoma tight end James Hanna with their sixth-round pick Saturday.

The Cowboys came into the draft with Jason Witten and John Phillips as the only tight ends because Martellus Bennett signed a one-year deal with the New York Giants.

Picking up another tight end, either in free agency or the draft, is something the Cowboys wanted to do since.

Hanna, a Flower Mound native, is 6-3 and 252 pounds. As a senior, he started 13 games and finished with a career-high 27 catches with 381 yards with two touchdowns. He was named to the Big 12's second team.

In his junior season, Hanna picked up seven touchdown catches earning All-Big 12 honorable mention honors.

After picking four consecutive defensive players, the Cowboys grabbed a wide receiver in the fifth round in Virginia Tech's Danny Coale and now Hanna.

IRVING, Texas -- The Cowboys fourth-round pick, safety Matt Johnson, endured health issues at Eastern Washington.

Johnson missed a spring game in 2010 with a concussion and had his season cut short his senior year in 2011 with a torn biceps.

"Yes, I got a lot of questions," Johnson said, alluding to what NFL teams asked when it came to his health. "I went through the physical with every place I went and checked out my shoulder and got all of the background checks and got everything checked out and I'm ready to go."

He added: "My health is the best I've felt in all of college."

Johnson visited with not only the Cowboys but Chicago and Philadelphia.

It was his visit with the Cowboys he enjoyed the most.

"My dad was a Cowboys fan," said Johnson, who grew up in Tumwater, Wash. "So I remember the first day watching them with Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin. I had the Emmitt Smith jersey growing up. So from the first time I can remember watching football, I was a Cowboys fan."

IRVING, Texas -- The Cowboys' fifth-round pick is wide receiver Danny Coale.

Pros: He's pretty quick, 4.5 40, and has the ability to play all three wide receiver spots. He's not afraid to go over the middle or try and run deep. He was a team captain at Virginia Tech and that's a big thing with coach Jason Garrett, who wants players who are respected in the locker room. He can also punt. He did some of it in high school and college, on a limited basis, and can be used in that area in case of an injury. He's a scrappy receiver who is dependable.

Cons: He had limited work on returns, and the Cowboys wanted to get a receiver in the draft who possessed the abilities to return punts and kicks. He's got average height, 5-11 and size, 201 pounds with short arms, measured at 30 1/2, inches which could present a problem. He's not a very good blocker and averaged just one touchdown for every 20 catches.

Cowboy fit: He will compete for the fifth wide receiver spot with Andre Holmes and Raymond Radway. Coale does have speed and size to be a slot receiver but is considered small by some scouts. His positive attitude allows the Cowboys to move him into special teams, he worked on kickoff coverage in college but is willing to play all the units. He can also help out on punts, and anytime you get position flexibility you take advantage of it.

Could have had: Marv Jones, WR, Cal; Marvin McNutt, WR, Iowa; James Brown, G, Troy; James Hanna, TE, Oklahoma.

IRVING, Texas -- The Cowboys picked their fourth defensive player of the NFL draft by selecting Eastern Washington safety Matt Johnson.

Pros: He's a hard hitter who is not afraid of contact and somebody who has played through injuries. He picked up 289 tackles and 17 interceptions in his career. Johnson makes plays on the ball as a deep center fielder and near the line of scrimmage. He likes playing special teams, and performed on the punt team for four seasons but was taken off other special teams units because he was on defense. Johnson improved his 40 times, recording a 4.6 40 his junior season and then a 4.5 40 this year.

Cons: Health. He had a concussion and surgery on his bicep during his career. NFL teams asked him about his health, but he passed all physical tests. Chicago Bears had him projected as a undrafted free agent pickup, Cowboys drafted him. Johnson is pretty quick but can he cover tight ends or help out deep in the backend when wide receivers get free?

Cowboy fit: He will be a main guy on special teams and expressed a desire to do it. He won't see a lot of time on defense but having a physical player on the field doesn't hurt a defense that looked soft at times.

Could have had: Cyrus Gray, RB, Texas A&M; Jeff Fuller, WR, Texas A&M; Robert Blanton, S, Notre Dame; Josh Chapman, DT, Alabama.

IRVING, Texas -- The Cowboys took an outside pass rusher in Kyle Wilber from Wake Forest with their first fourth-round pick Saturday morning.

Pros: Has played in a 4-3 scheme as defensive end and a 3-4 scheme as outside linebacker. He has four years of playing experience, earning his first start as a redshirt freshman when he started seven of the 13 games -- he had 42 tackles and 5.6 tackles for loss and three sacks. Wilber has the body type -- a tall, lean frame -- to add weight (249), which he'll need to take on tackles and tight ends. He's quick off the snap and is a physical tackler who plays with an attitude.

Cons: He's not powerful and needs to pick up weight. Some reports indicate Wilber has choppy footwork and isn't assignment sound, but coaching can solve some of those issues. He missed a few games in 2009 with a leg injury and endured an arm injury his senior season in 2011. He's raw in some areas.

Cowboy fit: He'll play some special teams and should get an opportunity to play on passing downs as either an end or outside linebacker. He's a tweener, so that gives the Cowboys flex in terms of how to use him. Expect him to compete with third-round pick Tyrone Crawford for playing time on passing downs as a rush end. He will play strong side linebacker opposite DeMarcus Ware.

Could have had: Orson Charles, TE, Georgia; Joe Looney, G, Wake Forest; William Vlachos, C, Alabama; Ronnell Lewis, OLB, Oklahoma; Nick Toon, WR, Wisconsin.

IRVING, Texas -- The final day is here for the NFL draft and, after a quiet Friday for the Cowboys, things should pick up Saturday. Round 4 starts at 11 a.m. CT. Teams have five minutes for each pick.

What to expect: The Cowboys have five draft picks today: two in the fourth round (113 and 135 overall) and one in rounds five (152 overall), six (186 overall) and seven (222 overall).

Needs: Owner/general manager Jerry Jones said he's open to finding a wide receiver who can return kicks and punts. If the Cowboys try and grab another cornerback, that player would need to have the flexibility to play safety. Of course, trying to upgrade the interior of the offensive line and finding a true safety are possibilities.

Who to keep an eye on: WR Joe Adams, Arkansas; TE James Hanna, Oklahoma; OLB Ronnell Lewis, Oklahoma; RB LaMar Miller, Miami; S Antonio Allen, South Carolina; DT Jared Crick, Nebraska; RB Cyrus Gray, Texas A&M; TE Orson Charles, Georgia; C Ben Jones, Georgia; C Philip Blake, Baylor; CB Brandon Boykin, Georgia.

Day 2 recap: The Cowboys fielded some phone calls about getting back into the second round, but decided against it. In Round 3, they picked up Boise State defensive end Tyrone Crawford, who is projected to get some playing time on passing situations, with the long-term goal of being an every down player.

IRVING, Texas -- With Round 3 of the NFL draft over, the Dallas Cowboys could only wonder what might have been if they had kept their second-round pick.

Instead, that pick went to the St. Louis Rams as part of a trade that brought cornerback Morris Clairborne.

The Cowboys did field some calls about getting back into the second round, but the price was too much.

"We bantered about some calls," Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said. "We wanted to resist temptations loading up because it would have been too heavy to move back in there."

St. Louis ended up trading the pick it received from Dallas to the Chicago Bears, who selected wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, a wide receiver from South Carolina.

Saturday, the Cowboys have five draft picks, starting with two in the fourth round.

IRVING, Texas -- When the second day of the NFL draft starts tonight, the Cowboys won't have their second-round pick -- 45th overall -- because it was sent to St. Louis as part of the deal to get LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne with the sixth pick.

The Cowboys do have a third-round pick tonight, the 81st overall selection.

Team executive vice president Stephen Jones said it's doubtful the Cowboys can get back into the second round.

"I don't foresee it but I didn't foresee this either," Jones said, alluding to the Claiborne trade. "It's just expensive and I just don't see it. I don't want to mortgage our future. We're just going to have to be content. It's going to be painful but we knew that was going to happen watching 32 good players go off the board this round. But we're very pleased with Morris. We'll just think about him when they're coming off."

Jones said the trade with St. Louis to get Claiborne, considered the best corner in this year's draft, was still surreal 24 hours later.

"Yeah, a little bit," he said. "Obviously it was a unique opportunity and everything had to fall into place. He was the only player we would go up for and he had to slide to six."

IRVING, Texas -- There has been only one defensive back ranked higher on the Dallas Cowboys draft boards than Morris Claiborne: Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.

Sanders was the Atlanta Falcons' fifth overall pick from Florida State in the 1989 draft.

Thursday night, when the Cowboys discussed making a trade for Claiborne with the St. Louis Rams, team scouts told owner/general manager Jerry Jones only one man had higher grades.

Sanders.

"Deion was special with his burst," Jones said. "But certainly he is the best they have graded for us since Deion. That would have included Deion after he came in here. Deion had the highest touchdown-per-touch of any player in NFL history."

Claiborne's high-grade was also higher than Terence Newman, who was the Cowboys' first-round pick, fifth overall in 2003.

Last year, LSU's Patrick Peterson was the highest graded corner coming out of the draft, but Jones said Claiborne's grade was better than his.

Claiborne said he compares himself, not to Sanders or Peterson but to the New York Jets' Darrelle Revis.

"He’s on that level where not too many of the guys are doing the things that he’s doing and I believe I can be that type of player also," Claiborne said.

Pros: Morris Claiborne, the 2011 Jim Thorpe Award winner, is a ballhawk who is the best cornerback in the draft. He has excellent quickness and possesses long arms (77-inch wing span). He’s a technician with phenomenal athletic ability and outstanding instincts. He’s comfortable playing press and off coverage. He has excellent ball skills after originally being recruited to LSU as a wide receiver. He’s also extremely dangerous once he picks off a pass. In two seasons as an LSU starter, Claiborne had 11 interceptions that he returned for 274 yards. He has the ability to play outside or in the slot. He can also return kicks, averaging 25.3 yards per return for the Tigers.

PODCAST
Dallas Cowboys draft pick Morris Claiborne says he was surprised to be picked by the Cowboys. Claiborne talks about his offensive skills on defense. Listen

Cons: The biggest con is that the Cowboys gave up two premium picks (14th and 45th overall) to move up to get Claiborne. As far as on the field, the one knock on Claiborne is that he isn’t physical enough. He doesn’t always use his long arms to his advantage in press coverage and misses more tackles than he should. He doesn't have blazing speed by NFL cornerback standards, but a 4.50 40-yard dash certainly isn't slow.

Cowboys fit: The Cowboys have turned one of their biggest weaknesses into a position of strength this offseason with the additions of Claiborne and free-agent cornerback Brandon Carr, who signed a five-year, $50.1 million contract. Mike Jenkins can forget about the lucrative long-term contract extension that he wanted from the Cowboys. Assuming Jenkins is still on the team, he’ll have to fight off the sixth overall pick to keep his starting job. At the minimum, Claiborne should be an outstanding slot corner as a rookie. Claiborne and Carr could be one of the NFL’s top cornerback combos for years to come.

Could have had: Alabama S Mark Barron, Mississippi State DL Fletcher Cox, Stanford OG David DeCastro, LSU DL Michael Brockers