FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys signed tight end James Mitchell to the practice squad Thursday and waived tight end Mitch Van Vooren from it, the club announced.
The moves are a one-for-one swap at the position. Mitchell takes the spot Van Vooren had held for two days.
The Carolina Panthers waived Mitchell on Aug. 31 in their cutdown to 53 players. He caught 8 passes for 42 yards across four preseason games with Carolina this summer.
James Mitchell’s Five NFL Seasons
The Detroit Lions drafted Mitchell in the fifth round in 2022, 177th overall, out of Virginia Tech. He has played 35 regular-season games with 16 receptions for 169 yards and 1 touchdown.
Mitchell caught 11 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown as a rookie in 14 games. The touchdown came Nov. 6, 2022, on a three-yard reception against the Green Bay Packers at Ford Field. He played 15 games in 2023 as a blocker and special teams contributor and caught 2 passes for 28 yards, then went on injured reserve on Jan. 13, 2024 with a hand injury.
Detroit waived him on Aug. 27, 2024 and re-signed him to the practice squad the next day. He spent that season there and was elevated once, for a Week 11 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, when he played 24 offensive snaps.
Carolina signed Mitchell to a reserve/future contract on Jan. 21, 2025 and re-signed him to a one-year deal on March 16, 2026. He appeared in five games last season, catching all 3 of his targets for 28 yards while logging 46 offensive snaps and 39 on special teams.
Mitchell played 10 of Carolina’s 67 offensive snaps in the Panthers’ 30-27 win over Dallas last season and was not targeted. He is 27 and is listed at 6-4 and 249 pounds.
Mitch Van Vooren’s 10 Days In Dallas
Van Vooren signed with Dallas on Aug. 24, in the final week of camp, after Kelvin Gilliam was waived with an injury designation.
He caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Sam Howell in the fourth quarter of the preseason finale against the New Orleans Saints on Aug. 28, finishing with 2 catches for 27 yards. Dallas waived him Sunday among the 28 players it put on the wire, and he cleared and re-signed to the practice squad Tuesday.
The 25-year-old has been on five NFL rosters in two years and has not played a regular-season game. The Seattle Seahawks signed him as an undrafted free agent in June 2025 and released him nine days later. The Cleveland Browns picked him up that August. The New England Patriots signed him July 22 and released him Aug. 18. He played two seasons at St. Norbert College after four years on Marquette’s track team.
The Dallas Cowboys’ Tight End Room
Dallas kept three tight ends on the initial 53-man roster: Jake Ferguson, Luke Schoonmaker, and Brevyn Spann-Ford. Princeton Fant is on the reserve list.
Undrafted rookie Michael Trigg was waived Sunday after a toe injury slowed him in camp and returned to the practice squad Monday. He and Mitchell are the two tight ends on it.
Teams may carry 16 practice squad players plus one International Player Pathway exemption. Adedayo Odeleye holds the Cowboys’ exemption. Up to two practice squad players can be elevated to the active roster each week.
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Thursday that he no longer separates the roster into active and practice squad players, a point he made in explaining how Dallas will develop quarterback Joe Milton III, who re-signed to the squad Wednesday.
The Cowboys open the regular season Sept. 13 at MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants. Kickoff is 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
