The Dallas Cowboys have terminated the contract of running back Ryan Williams just days before the team's training camp opens on Tuesday, as reported by ESPN's Todd Archer.

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The 25-year-old Williams is the team's fourth stringer at the position behind the trio of Joseph Randle, Darren McFadden, and Lance Dunbar. Archer indicated that the former Virginia Tech standout had two arthroscopic left knee procedures just this summer, with the latest right after Dallas' minicamp on June 18.

The 5-foot-9, 207-pound Cold Spring native did not make the squad's active roster last year and was relegated to the practice team all season. He passed up chances to move to another team for which Dallas recompensed him with a two-year, $1.5 million contract.

He has had left knee problems in the entire offseason that limited him in OTA's and training sessions, which perhaps led to him being cut a few days before training camp.

Aside from Williams, the Cowboys also released injured linebacker Cameron Lawrence and offensive lineman Ryan Miller, as per the team's official website. It was reported that the signing of four-year pro Andrew Gachkar made special teams' mainstay Lawrence dispensable in the lineup.

After waiving Williams, Dallas invited rookie running back Gus Johnson to the team's camp, which started on Thursday, July 30.

A recent update from SB Nation said that McFadden, a top candidate for the starting running back role, was placed in the Cowboys' PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list in Day One of camp. This means that the team is left with only Randle, Dunbar, and Johnson as their active backs in training this August if the former Arkansas Razorback will not be able to recuperate in time.

McFadden suffered a pulled hamstring during a practice session last week, but the team said that it should be nothing serious. However, with the 27-year-old's history of injuries (he played a full season only once in his seven-year career), the Cowboys are just being cautious about it.

There were speculations that Dallas was looking to acquire free agent backs Chris Johnson and Ray Rice during the summer, but no deal had pushed through. It remains to be seen if head coach Jason Garrett would still consider these two 2008 draft picks to play for the Cowboys this season after McFadden's injury.

TagsNFL, NFL 2015, NFL news, NFL News 2015, NFL rumors, NFL Rumors 2015, Dallas Cowboys, Ryan Miller, Darren McFadden