Cowboys roll the dice and lose big ahead of Week 4
The Dallas Cowboys recently rolled the dice by waiving linebacker Devin Harper and lost big. Although the team self-admittedly they were hoping for him to clear waivers to re-sign him to the practice squad, the Cincinnati Bengals claimed him from waivers. That means the Cowboys will permanently lose Harper, one of their special teams snap […]
The Dallas Cowboys recently rolled the dice by waiving linebacker Devin Harper and lost big. Although the team self-admittedly they were hoping for him to clear waivers to re-sign him to the practice squad, the Cincinnati Bengals claimed him from waivers.
That means the Cowboys will permanently lose Harper, one of their special teams snap count leaders unless he becomes a free agent later in the year.
Why did this happen? When the NFL season starts you will see teams constantly tinker with their rosters. It might be players underperforming, it might be due to injuries.
Regardless, on numerous occasions, you will see teams call up players from their practice squad and send them back down almost weekly. The Dallas Cowboys have routinely done this in 2023, calling up two players in each of the first three weeks. But entering Week 4, they were forced to change it up.
One rule in this is that if you call up a practice squad player three times, he must be signed to the 53-man roster if you want to use him again. In other words, each practice squad player can be elevated for gameday a maximum of three times.
For the Cowboys to count on backup center Brock Hoffman in Week 4, they needed a roster spot to do it. That's why they opened up a roster spot by releasing Harper.
This was an odd decision considering the position. For those who are counting at home, the release of Devin Harper leaves two linebackers on the Dallas Cowboys roster.
Now granted, the Cowboys can do some tinkering in terms of scheme and play players like Jayron Kearse, and Markquese Bell down in the box as a pseudo-linebacker, so the lack of depth can be masked.
But the question still needs to be asked. Why not release a corner? The Cowboys lost Trevon Diggs for the season with a torn ACL recently, but they still have six on the roster. Or perhaps a safety, of which they have six on the roster.
One would think another team is less likely to claim sixth-round rookie Eric Scott Jr. than Devin Harper. Regardless we are the fans and we don't get paid for these types of decisions.
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