Dallas City News

If you’ve been around the Cowboys for a while, you’ll know that rosters are largely set before training camp even begins, and most of the extra players brought in are little more than sparring and training partners for the roster locks.

That is the stark reality of NFL life.

Injuries and standout performances in camp provide the opportunity for maybe a handful of players each year to work their way onto the roster, but that’s pretty much it.

To get a better feeling for what the contested spots could be on the 2024 Cowboys roster, here are three separate roster projections. One from the always reliable Todd Archer at ESPN, one from the consistently well-informed Jon Machota of The Athletic, and one from Mike Fisher, who has his ear close to the ground in Dallas.

These three projections should give us a good idea of where public sentiment currently stands regarding the 2024 Cowboys roster. I’ve combined all three projections in the tables below. The table highlights (in yellow) the spots that do not yet appear to be locked down. Look closely, and you’ll see there aren’t many of those spots left, at least if these projections are anything to go by.

No real surprises on offense, the question marks are pretty much about depth.

• Do the Cowboys keep Cooper Rush as the third QB? Probably not on the initial 53-man squad, but he could get “cut and then return later, as has been the case so often with him,” Fisher writes. Archer wonders whether Rush might perhaps be a trade candidate: “Rush, 6-1 as a starter, also could be trade bait for teams needing a quality backup.”
• Five or six wide receivers? If the Cowboys keep six, it looks like rookie Ryan Flournoy currently has a leg up.
• Three or four tight ends? Peyton Hendershot is out in all three projections, UDFA Brevyn Spann-Ford could take his spot.

Frankly, that’s not a lot of competition.

Maybe there’s are more on defense?

Looks like there’s even less competition on defense for roster spots.

• Rookie DT Justin Rogers might be the odd man out in the interior defensive line
• Gareon Conley and Eric Scott look to be competing for the last cornerback spot
• C.J. Goodwin will jojo his way back onto the roster, even if he doesn’t make the initial 53: “It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Dallas find a way to get him on the 53 again right before the season starts,” Machota writes.

We’ve been doing these kinds of roster projection summaries for a long time here on Blogging The Boys. And yes, we know that rosters are largely set before training camp even begins.

But this is probably the lowest number of contested spots I’ve seen in the last 15 years, and it’s not because the Cowboys are stocked with quality depth, quite the opposite: Machota and Fisher have all eight rookies making the team, including both seventh-rounders. Sure, this could turn out to be an exceptionally deep draft class, but it’s more likely that there just isn’t enough quality depth on the roster to push the day-three rookies onto the practice squad.

Normally, you’d have a handful of free agent acquisitions providing some competition, but the Cowboys sat on their hands in free agency.

Does this mean this year’s camp will be “Camp Cupcake v 2.0,” to borrow a narrative from the Wade Phillips years? Probably not, but the Cowboys’ depth this year will be tested more than ever before. Injuries, suspensions, unexpected retirements, holdouts, trade requests, and many other things could expose the shallow depth on this roster lickety-split.

Sure, the Cowboys could still bring in extra free agents during camp, they will almost certainly scour the waiver wire during final cuts for extra help, and may even consider a trade or two to plug unexpected holes during the season. But they are going to be walking a roster depth tightrope all season – without a safety net.