In their cut down to 75 players, the Cowboys released 3 players who I had on my roster last week. All three, DaVonte Holloman, Matt Johnson, and Justin Green were released injured. All three will revert to the Cowboys Injured Reserve list if they are not claimed on waivers. This doesn't mean the Cowboys will keep them, but at the minimum, the Cowboys must reach an injury settlement before they are outright waived.
Holloman has been advised by doctors to never play again. So, it is a given that the Cowboys will ultimately release him.
As for Johnson, the coaches are still high on his talent, but I think the Cowboys should cut ties with him at this point. But, the cost to keep him around is pretty minimal by NFL standards. He wouldn't collect his $570K salary, and if the Cowboys want to give him one last chance next season, they could negotiate a very small retainer to keep him. I'm against it, but it remains an option for the Cowboys.
As for Green, he was recently acquired from New England in a trade for Ben Bass. Both Bass and Green were waived, so I highly doubt the Cowboys will keep Green.
In addition, we have been informed by Jerry Jones that Anthony Spencer will NOT start the year on the PUP list, as I thought he would. As expected, Ben Gardner and Amobi Okoye have been moved to reserve lists. Finally, the Cowboys have added RB Phillip Tanner and Jemea Thomas and released Tim Benford and B.W. Webb.
So, with all that roster movement, here are my current Roster Projections for the Cowboys (opening day starters in red):
OFFENSE – 24 Players
2 – QB – Tony Romo, Brandon Weeden
4 – RB – DeMarco Murray, Lance Dunbar, Ryan Williams, Joseph Randle
1 – FB – Tyler Clutts
3 – TE – Jason Witten, Gavin Escobar, James Hanna
5 – WR – Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley, Devin Street, Dwayne Harris
4 – OT – Tyron Smith, Doug Free, Jermey Parnell, Darrion Weems
4 – OG – Zack Martin, Ron Leary, Mackenzy Bernadeau, Uche Nwaneri
1 – C – Travis Frederick
DEFENSE – 26 Players
5 – DE – George Selvie, Jeremy Mincey, Anthony Spencer, Tyrone Crawford, Ken Boatright
5 – DT – Henry Melton, Terrell McClain, Davon Coleman, Zach Minter, Nick Hayden
7 – LB – Justin Durant, Kyle Wilber, Bruce Carter, Rolando McClain, Anthony Hitchens, Will Smith, free agent
5 – CB – Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, Sterling Moore, Tyler Patmon, Terrance Mitchell
4 – S – Barry Church, J.J. Wilcox, Jeff Heath, Ahmad Dixon
SPECIAL TEAMS – 3 Players
1 – PK – Dan Bailey
1 – LS – L.P. Ladouceur
1 – P – Chris Jones
RESERVE – Suspended
1 – CB – Orlando Scandrick
1 – S – Jakar Hamilton
RESERVE – Non-Football Illness
1 – DT – Amobi Okoye
RESERVE – Injured
1 – LB – Sean Lee
1 – DE – Ben Gardner
1 – DE – DeMarcus Lawrence
RESERVE – Non-Football Injury
1 – DT – Chris Whaley
PRACTICE SQUAD
1 – QB – Dustin Vaughan
1 – TE – Asa Watson
1 – WR – Jamar Newsome
1 – OT – John Wetzel
1 – OG – Ronald Patrick
1 – DE – free agent
1 – DT – Ken Bishop
1 – LB – Cam Lawrence
1 – S – Johnny Thomas
1 – CB – Jemea Thomas
We'll see how close I am to the actual players. It is highly probable that the Cowboys will add 3-4 players between the final cuts and opening day – players we have no way of predicting at this time.
