The Athletic has live coverage of NFL roster cuts and projections ahead of cutdown day
At no other time over the last decade have Dallas Cowboys coaches and front-office members talked as much about the difficulty of cutting down the roster from 90 to 53.
All NFL teams have to be down to a 53-man roster by 3 p.m. CT Tuesday.
“I think it’s as deep of a team as we’ve ever had,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said last week. “It’s no question the hardest 53-cut that we’ve had in years and years, in terms of trying to get down to our numbers.
“We have very few guys on this (team) that you can look out there and for sure say, ‘You’re not going to be on our 53 and you’re not going to be on our 16-man practice squad.’ Everybody is fighting for a spot right now.”
With the three preseason games complete, here is our final 53-man roster projection.
Quarterback (3)
Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush, Trey Lance
This was only going to be a two-man group with Prescott and Rush, but the trade for Lance changes things. If everything goes well for Dallas and Prescott stays healthy, it’s unlikely Lance will be much of a factor this season. But he is certainly in position to compete to be Prescott’s backup next season.
“You’re in this league long enough, and you see how important quarterbacks are,” Jones said Saturday night. “You’ve got to have quarterbacks. They get hurt. Not that we think Dak’s going to be hurt or anything, but it does happen. We’ve seen it. You want to have opportunities to bring guys and have guys in here. And we all know what happens when they do work out, even if they’re not going to be here. People end up offering you a whole lot for them if they happen to get on the field and play because of extenuating circumstances. Quarterbacks are hard to find, and they’re great resources to have.”
Running back (3)
Tony Pollard, Deuce Vaughn, Rico Dowdle
If the Cowboys keep four, the final spot would come down to Malik Davis and Hunter Luepke. The emergence of Vaughn and Dowdle’s solid play in the preseason makes it a better bet that Dallas keeps only three with the hope of getting Davis or Luepke on the practice squad. There will likely be some quality No. 4 running back options available when every team is down to 53 players.
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Wide receiver (5)
CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, Michael Gallup, Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin
Up until the last few days, six wide receivers seemed like a good bet. The sixth spot comes down to seventh-round pick Jalen Brooks and 2021 fifth-round pick Simi Fehoko. Brooks is probably the favorite out of those two. But if the Cowboys need to go thin at another position, wide receiver is one where there should be some decent No. 6 options available if they can’t get Brooks back on the practice squad.
Tight end (3)
Jake Ferguson, Luke Schoonmaker, Peyton Hendershot
The Cowboys would like to have Sean McKeon on the roster as their No. 4 tight end — and that might still happen. But during the initial cuts, it’s difficult to see Dallas going with more than three tight ends. It would have been interesting to see how things might have been different here had John Stephens not suffered a season-ending knee injury. The undrafted rookie free agent was coming on strong.
Offensive line (10)
Tyron Smith (LT), Tyler Smith (LG), Tyler Biadasz (C), Zack Martin (RG), Terence Steele (RT), Chuma Edoga (OL), T.J. Bass (OL), Asim Richards (OL), Matt Waletzko (OT), Josh Ball (OL)
The depth here is the team’s biggest roster concern. There’s a significant gap between the starting five and the next reserve. This would be a great area to work a trade for an upgrade from another team. However, sending San Francisco a fourth-round pick for Lance might have reduced that possibility. Matt Farniok ended up being the last cut at this position group. Next would probably be Ball. There can’t be a lot of confidence in any of the reserves having to step into a starting role soon.
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Defensive line (11)
Micah Parsons (DE/LB), DeMarcus Lawrence (DE), Sam Williams (DE), Dorance Armstrong (DE), Dante Fowler (DE), Osa Odighizuwa (DT), Johnathan Hankins (DT), Mazi Smith (DT), Neville Gallimore (DT), Chauncey Golston (DL), Viliami Fehoko (DL)
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Dallas go with 10, meaning Gallimore would likely be the odd man out. In this projection, DT Quinton Bohanna was the final cut. The edge rushers group is as deep as any team’s in the league. The Cowboys are hopeful Golston and Fehoko can provide depth at defensive tackle and defensive end. Odighizuwa and Hankins should be quality starters in the middle, but Smith also needs to be a solid member of the rotation.
Linebacker (4)
Leighton Vander Esch, Damone Clark, Jabril Cox, Devin Harper
That looks extremely thin, but it’s only because of the way defensive coordinator Dan Quinn uses some of his safeties as linebackers. DeMarvion Overshown made this a five-man group before his season-ending knee injury. And it still might be a five-man group. But it’s unlikely the fifth player is on the current roster. This is a spot where a player could be added from another team in the next few days.
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Defensive back (11)
Trevon Diggs (CB), Stephon Gilmore (CB), DaRon Bland (CB), Kelvin Joseph (CB), Eric Scott (CB), Jayron Kearse (S), Donovan Wilson (S), Malik Hooker (S), Israel Mukuamu (S), Markquese Bell (S), Juanyeh Thomas (S)
Six safeties? Again, it’s only because of the way Quinn uses his safeties. He’ll keep at least five. Thomas has come on strong throughout training camp and the preseason and he gets the final spot over CB Nahshon Wright. Cornerbacks Jourdan Lewis and C.J. Goodwin could also change some things here. Goodwin is still a valuable special teams member. It would not be a surprise to see him back on the roster and active for Week 1. Depending on how the Cowboys feel about the progress of Lewis’ foot injury, the veteran could also end up avoiding the physically unable to perform list and wind up on the initial 53.
Special teams (3)
Brandon Aubrey (K), Bryan Anger (P), Trent Sieg (LS)
The only way this group was changing is if Aubrey played his way out of the kicker spot. It appears he showed enough in training camp and the preseason to hold down the job, at least to start the season. In the three preseason games, Aubrey made 8 of 9 extra-point attempts. He was 2-of-3 on field goal attempts, making from 29 and 59 and missing from 59.
“He’s shown that he can do it,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “You just want to get those live reps. As soon as the ball left his foot (on the 59-yarder he made Saturday night) you knew it was good. I thought he had a nice night.
“If I was to be critical, I wish I got him some more opportunities in the first two games. That’s why it was important to give him a couple cracks from deep (Saturday night).”
(Top photo of Juanyeh Thomas: Matthew Pearce / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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