OXNARD, Calif. - Northwestern State 2007 All-America offensive tackle Demetress Bell is in training camp with the Dallas Cowboys after the club signed the fifth-year free agent over the weekend.
 
Bell, who played left tackle from 2008-11 in Buffalo and played both tackle slots last year in Philadelphia, was a free agent after starting 35 of the last 40 games he played for the Bills and Eagles.
 
Bell and second-year cornerback and special teams standout Jeremy Lane, who helped Seattle reach the NFL playoffs in his rookie season last year, are the two Demons active in the league as training camps begin. Veteran cornerback Terrence McGee was released by Buffalo during the offseason following 10 years with the Bills.
 
Bell was a seventh-round NFL Draft pick in 2008. He played only three seasons of college football, just two on offense, after never having played the game prior to NSU. He came to the Demons as a basketball standout from Summerfield High School in Claiborne Parish, and helped NSU post a pair of 20-win seasons before finally giving up the sport prior to his senior football season to focus on his professional potential.
 
He was rated one of the NFL's highest-grading left tackles in the first five weeks of the 2011 season  before an injury sidelined him for more than a month. He entered free agency following 2011, and signed with Philadelphia, but was released in February.