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Let’s Cut the Cowboys Roster to the Final 53
The Cowboys are having this discussion now, so let’s wildly speculate and project where things are if we were making the roster.
Bob SturmAug 26, 2026
Well, here we go. The Cowboys have one final preseason game, but we have to assume that most of that game will be played with guys who are finishing their tour of duty with Dallas. They will finish that game, store the memories, ask their agent who is interested, and wander off into the night knowing that by Sunday, the dream is likely over.
Professional football: It is maybe the hardest way to make an easy living. Ninety guys go in and 53 make the actual team and make the actual dollars.
Now, we certainly don’t take any of their stories lightly. Every player who is listed on the preseason roster is an exceptional football player with surely an interesting backstory. But, we also know the name of the game is to build the best roster possible by the time we get to the end of August.
And here we are. The end of August where the next date on the NFL “important dates” memo reads like this:
August 30
Prior to 6:00 p.m., New York time, clubs must reduce rosters to a maximum of 53 players on the Active/Inactive List.Now, yes, there are practice squads and injured lists to consider for sure. There are also a number of situations that are ongoing. In fact, if you talk to any personnel department of any franchise and in pretty much any sport, they will all tell you some version of the following:
“Our roster is never finished. We are constantly looking to upgrade our talent when opportunities present themselves. This is a 24/7, 365 days a year objective.”
There is no final roster, that means. There is a roster deadline and that is Sunday afternoon, and that is all we are thinking about in this exercise, but the idea of a final roster is a fallacy. There are even times where somebody makes the team, gets in the team photo, celebrates with family, and then they get cut within 48 hours because the team found someone else’s cut player as an upgrade from the guy who made your team.
In other words, you can probably never get too comfortable in this line of work. But, as we know, there is no shortage of people who dream of making the team.
Let’s check the numbers
Every year, teams manage their roster and they do so in much smaller size bites. To look at something through the lens of 53 or even giving the offense 25 players and the defense 25 players is too large. What they will do is break it into about 5 positional groups on each side of the ball and then factor in 3-4 “specialists.”Here is how each group has looked in 2024 and 2025 here in Dallas:
We must also say that these numbers are never declared by a team. They protect their cards and make us try to speculate, so we do. We also speculate by noting scheme changes and how that should affect things. For instance, we know that the Cowboys plan on playing a three-safety defense in most cases, so quite obviously, they will not be rostering just four safeties. They will likely keep five and it is possible that they will go shorter perhaps at corner since they will likely not need as many in this scheme. But, then again, they started eight different corners last year.
Also, specialists can be a bit flexible. I always build in three: kicker, punter, long snapper, but the Cowboys had a special teams player who almost never did anything but that in CJ Goodwin. So, we called him a specialist, but some listed him as a corner - because in a former life he played some DB. But, in nine years in Dallas he played roughly seven snaps a year for the defense. So, that is simply not a defensive player for my accounting. Regardless, the Cowboys carried four in the last two seasons. I believe that will definitely be three this year.
Ok, let’s do this. Here are my 53 with just a few days to go:
OFFENSE:
QB - 2:
Dak Prescott, Joe MiltonI think they planned on Sam Howell taking his job and he still might. But, for now, I think Milton has kept the job and is a much better player than he was 12 months ago. I think Howell has value and is not a bad choice, but I just don’t know that I can cut loose Milton based on what we have seen in these games - unless they already made up their mind before the games were played. Howell has a 1-year deal that is fully guaranteed at $2.5 million and Milton has 2026 and 2027 on his contract at next to nothing. Perhaps once they guaranteed Howell’s money, the decision was made.
RB - 4:
Javonte Williams, Malik Davis, Jaydon Blue, Hunter LuepkeThis means Phil Mafah is a no for me right now and I think he is a great candidate to slide through to the practice squad anyway. I had Malik Davis at 55th on my Sturm 60 ballot, but I just cannot let him go. He is such a competitor and a real impressive piece that Dallas should not let get away until they have someone who can do what he can do. Blue is too valuable in bursts, but seems more of a gadget type for me. Luepke is essentially a TE and special teams piece who can also help in the backfield. I still have concerns about what happens if Javonte must miss significant time, but this is my group for now.
TE - 3:
Jake Ferguson, Luke Schoonmaker, Brevyn Spann-FordI think this is one of those spots where once you decide you are keeping Luepke, then your chances of also keeping a fourth TE go out the window. I think Michael Trigg is as interesting as the next guy, but for now he seems like a guy I want on my practice squad. Schoonmaker is an expiring free agent at the end of this season, but I think that they want to make sure he is around to help keep quality depth. This is probably your three. Fant is out for the year.
WR - 6:
CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Ryan Flournoy, Kavonte Turpin, Camden Brown, Jonathan MingoThere aren’t many teams who have the top four that the Cowboys have and while I think Turpin will be more and more limited in his snap share on offense, his return ability alone justifies his spot. Flournoy is ready to really have a big year if called upon and now here are Camden Brown and Jonathan Mingo. Now, it is highly possible that Mingo is still cut and they keep Anthony Smith (the 7th round pick this year), but if they think they are going to be good this year, they may risk sneaking Smith through to the practice squad. I just think Mingo is a guy who is nice to have in reserve. I might have that one wrong and maybe you need to pick between Brown and Mingo and only keep one. In that case, Camden Brown has an entire rookie contract and Mingo is about to be a UFA, so that is easy. But, I am tempted to keep both. I just don’t think Marquez Valdes-Scantling does a whole lot for me.
OL - 9:
Tyler Guyton, Tyler Smith, Cooper Beebe, Tyler Booker, Terence Steele, TJ Bass, Nate Thomas, Ajani Cornelius, Drew SheltonI don’t think we feel great about this group, to be honest. The top six are fine and I think Cornelius is better at guard, but what the heck is the plan if there is even a slight injury situation at tackle? The idea of Nate Thomas or Drew Shelton being the solutions at tackle are extremely problematic and I must tell you that this is where I would be shopping hard to find a swing tackle I can trust there in the trenches. Nobody has emerged and it just looks rather bleak. To be fair, it usually does look thin there because this whole league has teams that don’t even have two decent tackles, let alone three, but the depth in Dallas and the lack of quality at the starting tackles should give us all pause and I suppose any big injury solution is probably still TJ Bass to left guard and Tyler Smith to left tackle.
OFFENSE TOTAL - 24
Defense:
DL - 5:
Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark, Otito Ogbonnia, LT Overton, Jay ToiaNow, the first thing you should be asking is where is Jonathan Bullard? Great question as he has sort of only been a rumor in training camp. But, he is also the type of guy that you probably want to roster after Week 1 and don’t fear the idea of him sliding through waivers as a player who is soon-to-be 33 years old. Are they planning on him more than Toia? Sure. But, Toia would likely be claimed and maybe this is a little rostering work to try to hold on to both.
EDGE - 5:
Rashan Gary, Donovan Ezeiruaku, Malachi Lawrence, Von Miller, Sam WilliamsI know that not including James Houston will not go over well with some readers, but I think once they did the Von Miller thing, they decided that he is their designated pass rusher of choice. Then Rashan Gary is the full-time edge and the two pups in Eze and Malachi will be battling each-other for snaps. The 5th could have been Williams, Liufau, or Houston and I went Williams because I think he has done enough on special teams over the years to fill a big role there (especially since there is no chance Von Miller will) and because he is another piece if you think this year could be a great year. I am cutting some nice players in this group and Charles Snowden might factor in at some point of the season, but for now, I think these are the five I am thinking I am keeping.
LB - 6:
DeMarvion Overshown, Jaishawn Barham, Dee Winters, Shemar James, Justin Barron, Curtis RobinsonThis is the exact six we had making the team at the start of camp and I have not seen anything too compelling to swing me from this being the squad. Barham has risen just as quickly as they hoped so I believe Winters is more of a backup than a full-time fix (which probably is a relief) and then Shemar James and Justin Barron are young, cheap depth who can play teams and continue their journeys. Obviously, this was about the worst part of the roster last year and there are almost no real holdovers besides James, so the Cowboys are thankfully starting over and it begins with a DL that keep these guys clean to go wreck stuff. I think Robinson might be the 53rd man on this roster, but I think they like his special teams and his veteran presence.
CB - 5:
DaRon Bland, Cobie Durant, Shavon Revel, Devin Moore, Trikweze BridgesKnowing they don’t need quite as many corners as they have in the past when they would regularly play three corners per snap and also had some on-going injury considerations, I think the Cowboys can pick the two veterans they like the most in Bland and Durant and the two kids they like the most in Revel and Moore. Who is the fifth is whoever loves special teams the most and I think that is Bridges. But, it is much more of a wild guess as it is anyone’s guess on the outside of those meetings. Reddy Steward, Josh Butler and Caelen Carson all have their advocates, but I think Bridges would be my call at this point – but Friday night might get me to lean over to someone else. I don’t have much feel for CB5 right now.
S - 5:
Caleb Downs, Malik Hooker, Jalen Thompson, PJ Locke, Alijah ClarkI am almost positive they are carrying five safeties and three of them all might play 50 snaps a game on defense. Locke is the understudy for deep safety and I think Alijah Clark or Julius Wood will be the special teams ace and depth option and I am just going to go with Clark because he did so much for them on teams in 2025 that he might have earned their trust. But, Julius Wood has really made an impression and I think they want to keep him around and Markquese Bell obviously has some fans in the building, too.
DEFENSE TOTAL - 26
Specialists - 3:
Brandon Aubrey, Bryan Anger, Trent SiegRinse and repeat here. If it isn’t broke, don’t try to fix it. They won’t.
ROSTER TOTAL - 53
So, there you go. With four days to go, these are my current 53. I assume I am off by a few names and a few will change in the next few days. Also, like we said, a few might just be filler until they can add a guy from this roster or a guy from that one. But, I thought this might be useful to offer my projected 53. Would you like to see how it matches with my pre-camp 53?
Here is my list from “Ranking the Roster” and the crossed out names are on the roster. The yellow means they missed it (for now).
And, a few guys who weren’t even on my top 60 did make the team - Camden Brown, Trikweze Bridges, and Jonathan Mingo.
Now, we see if they can make the actual roster which is substantially more important to them than making mine.
