It was cutdown day on Tuesday, as you might have gathered from our recent posts here. As the dust is settling, there are two players the Cowboys will regret keeping before the end of the year.
The good news, such as it is, comes from the fact that there was one on each side of the ball.
The better news is that both mistakes can quickly be rectified as soon as players return from IR.
First, let’s review what is (currently) the 53-man roster. We’ll start with this list per this post from the Cowboys PR Department on X:
Interesting Decisions
- Quarterbacks
- Dak Prescott
- Joe Milton
Right off the bat, we see Dallas has only retained two quarterbacks.
They signed Will Grier to the practice squad. He will be dressed as the “emergency third quarterback” for now.
- Running Backs
- Javonte Williams
- Miles Sanders
- Jaydon Blue
- Phil Mafah
- Hunter Luepke
As for the running back room, the Cowboys retained five backs.
One, Mafah, will start on injured reserve. It will be interesting to see if Sanders remains on the roster once Mafah is cleared to return.
- Wide Receivers
- CeeDee Lamb
- George Pickens
- Jalen Tolbert
- KaVontae Turpin
- Ryan Flournoy
Here’s where the miscue takes place on offense. They cut the wrong Jalen.
Yes, Tolbert had better numbers last year than Brooks.
He was the WR2 in 2024, so he should have had better numbers.
But Tolbert looked terrible in preseason and out in Oxnard. Brooks was having a solid camp.
The Cowboys are going to regret retaining Tolbert, especially if they lose Lamb or Pickens.
- Tight Ends
- Jake Ferguson
- Luke Schoonmaker
- Brevyn Spann-Ford
Schoonmaker is down to his last chance. He has not shown much in his first two years.
Spann-Ford could easily surpass him at TE2 before the halfway point of the year unless the lightbulb goes off over Schoonmaker’s head soon.
- Offensive Line
- Tyler Guyton
- Tyler Smith
- Cooper Beebe
- Tyler Booker
- Terence Steele
- Nate Thomas
- Brock Hoffman
- T.J. Bass
- Ajani Cornelius
It’s hard to argue against the choices made for this unit. Especially with Asim Richards being traded to New Orleans.
But, like Schoonmaker, Steele needs to get it together.
Or he might be the next lineman out the door.
Questions Abound On Defense
- Defensive Line
- Micah Parsons
- Dante Fowler
- Sam Williams
- Marshawn Kneeland
- Donovan Ezeiruaku
- James Houston
- Osa Odighizuwa
- Solomon Thomas
- Mazi Smith
- Jay Toia
- Perrion Winfrey
It’s hard to think that Jerry Jones would be dumb enough to trade Parsons. However, if the Packers are offering the world, maybe he should listen?
It isn’t hard to imagine Jones being spiteful enough to franchise tag Parsons for two years to keep him in Dallas though.
If a deal isn’t reached soon, that becomes more of a possibility.
But the real defensive blunder made by the Cowboys was in retaining Smith. Both Toia and Winfrey outplayed Smith in preseason.
Smith’s lone tackle against the Falcons was only because Atlanta’s o-line forgot to block him.
- Linebackers
- Kenneth Murray
- Jack Sanborn
- Marist Liufau
- Damone Clark
- Shemar James
Would Dallas drop one of the five to make room for DeMarvion Overshown when he returns in November?
If not, who loses their roster spot when he does come back? That’s going to be the move to watch as we get deeper into the fall.
- Defensive Backs
- Trevon Diggs
- DaRon Bland
- Kaiir Elam
- Andrew Booth
- Caelen Carson
- Zion Childress
- Malik Hooker
- Donovan Wilson
- Markquese Bell
- Juanyeh Thomas
Childress and Booth have already been released – after the post above was dropped – to make room for cornerbacks Trikweze Bridges and Reddy Stewart.
Childress is expected to re-sign with Dallas for the practice squad, assuming he clears waivers.
Booth? I think Dallas is better off without him anyway.
Carson is also heading for IR to start the year.
Rock Solid Unit
- Special Teams
- Brandon Aubrey, K
- Bryan Anger, P
- Trent Sieg, LS
These three guys have been so stable for Dallas for so long, it’s easy to forget they’re on the team.
Until it’s time for Aubrey to boom a 60-yard field goal, of course.
