Final roster cuts have come and gone, and the Dallas Cowboys came out of the other side relatively unscathed.
Most of the players they hoped would clear waivers did so, and they have already filled the 16 available spots on the practice squad.
The practice squad, and a few other notes from a busy Tuesday are what we will be covering today.
Practice Squad
The practice squad is a valuable tool available to all NFL teams.
It is a unit that consists of 16 players that could be called up to the active roster up to three times each throughout the season without repercussions.
Once a player has been called up three times, the team must sign that player to the active roster or subject that player to waivers.
Mid-afternoon on Wednesday, the Cowboys finalized (for now) their 16 man practice squad. Here are the current players:
- Malik Davis, RB
- Sean McKeon, TE
- Princeton Fant, TE
- Jalen Moreno-Cropper, WR
- Tyron Johnson, WR
- Alex Taylor-Prioleau, OT
- Earl Bostick Jr., OT
- Sean Harlow, G (From New York Giants)
- Brock Hoffman, C
- Tyrus Wheat, DE
- Durrell Johnson, DE
- Willington Previlion, DT (From Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
- Malik Jefferson, LB
- CJ Goodwin, CB
- Josh Butler, CB
- Sheldrick Redwine, S
Of this list, 14 of the 16 players were already part of the Cowboys prior to the roster cutdown from 90 to 53 players on Tuesday.
Malik Davis returns to the practice squad after being active for 12 games as a rookie, and provides valuable depth behind Tony Pollard, Deuce Vaughn, and Hunter Luepke.
Dallas was relieved to see that fourth year TE Sean McKeon cleared waivers, as he is a big special teams contributor.
The Cowboys also brought back offensive tackles Alex Taylor-Prioleau and Earl Bostick Jr.
They can provide needed depth on the offensive line with Matt Waletzko on short term IR, and Josh Ball lost for the season with a hip/groin injury.
One of the most important returns to the team is interior lineman Brock Hoffman, who is now the only other player besides Tyler Biadasz who has worked at center.
With a thin linebacker room, Malik Jefferson is another valuable return to the practice squad. Although I still expect Dallas to seek veteran help.
CJ Goodwin, the long time special teams ace, is a candidate to be called up to the active roster for the first three games before remaining on the 53 man roster the rest of the season.
The new additions are G Sean Harlow, who was signed away from the rival New York Giants, and DT Willington Previlion from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Roster Moves
Dallas placed two players on season-ending IR, and another two players on IR-Designated to Return.
OT Josh Ball and LB DeMarvion Overshown were placed directly on season-ending IR with their respective injuries, and we won’t see them in uniform until 2024.
They did not count against the 53 man roster on Tuesday, but two other injured players did.
In order for a player to be eligible for IR-Designated to Return, they must first be on the 53 man roster for 24 hours.
This is exactly what the Cowboys did with OT Matt Waletzko and CB Nahshon Wright.
To make this happen, the Cowboys released vested veterans OL Chuma Edoga and LS Trent Sieg with the understanding that they will be signed right back to the active roster.
The Cowboys made those moves on Wednesday, and are now reflected on the active roster.
Players Lost
The Cowboys front office just completed a master class in roster management.
They used every available resource to ensure they retained almost every player they intended to keep.
Dallas did this by way of temporarily releasing vested veterans, using season ending IR and the Reserved/Suspended list (Ronald Jones), and just plain foresight to know which players would clear waivers.
The only player they lost to outright waivers was rookie undrafted free agent Isaiah Land after he was claimed by the Indianapolis Colts.
Three other players cleared waivers, but all three chose to start fresh with other organizations.
LB Jabril Cox signed to the Washington Commanders practice squad, where he will attempt to sneak onto their active roster.
This was surprising to me, as he surely would have been active most of the season for Dallas should he have chosen to stay.
WR Dennis Houston also chose to sign with a division rival, announcing he was signing with the New York Giants practice squad.
The last notable player was OL Matt Farniok. He has not signed with another team, but already announced he wouldn’t be coming back to Dallas.
With the final 53 set, and the 16 player practice squad complete, the Cowboys set their sights on the New York Giants in Week 1.