Continuing to address their return game, the Green Bay Packers have acquired wide receiver/kick returner Reggie Swinton from the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a conditional, 2004 draft choice, GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman announced Tuesday.
The 6-foot, 186-pound Swinton, a former Arena Football League standout, has been the Cowboys' leading kickoff returner each of the past two seasons, averaging 23.7 yards in 2001 while establishing club records for kickoff returns (56), kickoff return yards (1,327) and combined return yards - punts and kickoffs (1,741) to earn all-pro honors as a rookie.
Swinton moved into third place on the Cowboys' career list in 2002 with a 24.0-yard average behind Mel Renfro (26.4 avg.) and Herschel Walker (25.3 avg.), finishing sixth in the NFC and 10th in the NFL with a 24.9-yard average. He made his first appearance of the '02 season against Philadelphia and returned his first kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, tying the fourth-longest KOR in club history. Overall, his 2,089 career kickoff return yards are the fourth-most in club history.
The 28-year-old Murray State alumnus also was the Cowboys' punt return leader in 2001, averaging 13.4 yards for 31 returns. Prior to joining Dallas in '01, Swinton spent the Arena Football League season with the Arizona Twisters and set franchise records with 85 pass receptions, 1,463 yards and 33 touchdowns in 13 games.
This season, he led the NFL with a 38.8 yard average on six kickoff returns in the preseason, including a 96-yard return for a touchdown against Oakland, after missing the first two games with a groin strain. He subsequently averaged 21.7 yards for three kickoff returns in the Cowboys' regular-season opener against Atlanta and had been inactive for two of the past three games, vs. the New York Giants (Sept. 15) and vs. the New York Jets (Sept. 28).
Before arriving in Dallas, Swinton spent time in NFL camps with Jacksonville (1998) and Seattle (2000) and with Winnipeg and Edmonton of the CFL (1999).
As a collegian, Swinton set Murray State records for career receptions (133), career receiving yards (2,346) and single season receiving yards (1,042). An all-around athlete, Swinton earned all-state honors in four sports - football, baseball, basketball and track - at Central High School in Little Rock, Ark.
Wide receiver Chris Jackson has been waived to make room for the newcomer on the team's 53-man active roster. Swinton, who will join the Packers on the practice field Wednesday, has been assigned jersey No. 81.
