DALLAS — Tuesday was cutdown day around the league, which meant the Dallas Cowboys had to get their roster down to 53 players. There were tough decisions that needed to be made to pare down the team to the required roster, and there will be more moves coming to get the team prepared for the opener in New York against the Giants in Week 1 on September 10th.
As it stands now, there are some oddities that came with the initial 53-man roster. Currently Dallas has six safeties but doesn’t have a long snapper or a backup center, for example. Those anomalies will be taken care of when the team makes another few maneuvers in the coming days as practice squads and waiver claims are made throughout the league.
Here are some items of intrigue on where the Cowboys landed on their first official roster of the 2023 season:
Three linebackers, six safeties
One of the major soft spots on the Cowboys is at LB, where the team kept just three traditional LBs but listed the position at four with the inclusion of Markquese Bell. This has been a move that the team has telegraphed, and Bell will likely have duplicate responsibilities as he takes over the hybrid role that had been earmarked for rookie DeMarvion Overshown.
The move also opened a spot for safety Juanyeh Thomas, who has impressed in camp, and gives the Cowboys six safeties on the roster. That’s some impressive depth that the Cowboys have rarely seen at the position, especially over the last two decades.
Kelvin Joseph traded
The Cowboys have a good set of starting cornerbacks, but the last few options at the position need work. To bolster the group, Dallas traded third-year CB Kelvin Joseph to the Miami Dolphins for a young former first-rounder Noah Igbinoghene.
Joseph never lived up to his potential as a second-round pick from 2021, and was swapped for Igbinoghene, who has been seen as a disappointment after being selected 30th overall out of Auburn. Both are 23-years old. However, despite being in the league one year longer, Igbinoghene is younger by 16 days, and is looking for a fresh start.
If the Cowboys were indeed going to part ways with Joseph, at least they got a player back who also has some pedigree as a high draft pick. Losing Joseph hurts on special teams, so the team does need Igbinoghene to pick up some of that slack there, as well as at corner.
Rookies earn their way
It’s tough to make an NFL roster if you’re a Day 3 draft pick or an undrafted free agent, but the Cowboys kept all four of their final day picks, which means the entire draft class made the team. Overshown would have made the roster as well if it weren’t for a season-ending injury during the preseason.
Fourth-round selection Viliami Fehoko stuck for the defensive line, fifth-round pick Asim Richards looks like the backup LT, sixth-round selection Eric Scott had enough good moments to earn a role at CB, fellow sixth-round pick Deuce Vaughn has electrified as a backup RB, and seventh-rounder Jalen Brooks stood out among the other options at WR.
In addition, two undrafted free agents – offensive lineman T.J. Bass and RB Hunter Luepke – also made the roster. Bass has played his way into being considered a top interior backup lineman and Luepke is fourth on the depth chart at running back but has added value because he can be used as a fullback or H-back/TE option.
All in all, it’s been an impressive draft success story for the Cowboys with ten rookies making the club.
Lewis active
In a somewhat surprising move, the Cowboys chose to keep Jourdan Lewis on the active roster despite the veteran cornerback not practicing at all during the offseason, in training camp, or playing in the preseason. Lewis missed the last half of the 2022 season with a foot injury that took all the way through the summer to recuperate from.
During camp, Lewis has said that he’s able to do everything necessary, yet the team only had the seven-year CB rehabbing instead of practicing.
If Lewis is healthy, why hasn’t he been practicing? Wouldn’t the team need to give Lewis time to get back into football shape since he hasn’t played in a game since last October? It’s an odd inclusion that was perhaps administrative to have him available sooner without risk of losing him to another team.
Nevertheless, the Cowboys must be confident in Lewis’ ability to get back up to speed quickly to include him on the roster, so it’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out.
Short on offensive line
The Cowboys have few weak spots on the roster, and the depth behind the starters on the offensive line should be considered one of them. Age and injury risk are the main sources of concern, so it was curious to see the team keep just eight offensive lineman, especially considering two of them are rookies.
It was also an interesting decision to not have a backup center on the roster. The best guess is the Cowboys will try to add recently cut Brock Hoffman or Matt Farniok via the practice squad and elevate them on game day to make sure the team is covered at center.
Richards and Bass have played well all summer and earned their way onto the roster but having them as the primary backup options feels risky. Together with second-year tackle Matt Waletzko, the trio combines for three games of actual NFL experience behind the starters on the offensive line.
That’s a gamble that the Cowboys must be comfortable with heading into the season.
Brandon Aubrey earns the nod
For now, it looks like the rookie kicker has made it. The inclusion of the former USFL standout made for one of the top storylines from training camp, as a kicker battle never seemed to materialize with Aubrey quickly becoming the top option.
After nailing a 53-yard kick to go along with a perfect mark on extra point attempts in the preseason finale, Aubrey apparently did enough to win the job.
Who do you think the Cowboys made the right choices with their initial roster cuts? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.
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