The Dallas Cowboys preseason has come to an end and now all focus shifts to next Tuesday, August 27th. In other words, NFL cutdown day. 

Come Tuesday 4:00 p.m. ET, the Cowboys and every other team in the league will have to trim down its roster from 90 players to 53. With three preseason games in the books, the coaching staff now has to make the difficult decisions behind closed doors. Here's our final stab at how the roster will shake out.

Note: Players with one asterisk (*) represent 2024 draft picks and players with double asterisks (**) represent 2024 undrafted free agents.

Edoga, Bland projected to Injured Reserve: 

Starting in 2024, the NFL will allow teams to place two players on Injured Reserve and designate them to return on cutdown day without them having to be a part of the 53-man roster. DaRon Bland, expected to be out 6-8 weeks, and Chuma Edoga are the projected choices and thus are not a part of the prediction below. 

Quarterback (3)

IN: Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush, Trey Lance
OUT:

The Cowboys are unlikely to play games at quarterback and instead opt to carry three guys they really like. The question will be who's Dak Prescott's direct backup; The experienced but limited Cooper Rush or the talented but unpolished Trey Lance? After five interceptions on Saturday, I'm leaning Rush. 

Running back (4)

IN: Rico Dowdle, Ezekiel Elliott, Hunter Luepke (FB), Deuce Vaughn
OUT: Royce Freeman, Snoop Conner, Malik Davis, Nate Peat**

Dowdle, Elliott, and Luepke are all roster locks. If the Cowboys decide to carry a fourth, who will it be? 

On Saturday, Vaughn made such a decision much, much easier on the Cowboys' coaching staff. It's gotta be him. He's a play-maker and deserves a shot at proving it in the regular season. Not only that, he should have a high workload as Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle are far from perfect starting running backs. 

Wide receiver (6)

IN: CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Brooks, Ryan Flournoy
OUT: Jalen Cropper, David Durden, Racey McMath, Cam Johnson**, Tyron Billy-Johnson, Kelvin Harmon, Deontay Burnett

No surprises here. The Cowboys coaching staff clearly loves Jalen Brooks and he should be looked at as a roster lock. The last spot goes to Ryan Flournoy after the sixth round rookie ended camp and the preseason on a very strong note. 

Tight end (3)

IN: Jake Ferguson, Luke Schoonmaker, John Stephens Jr.
OUT: Brevyn Spann-Ford**, Peyton Hendershot, Princeton Fant, Alec Holler**

Going with three tight ends is viable only if the Cowboys truly believe they can get Luepke playing TE efficiently. I could see Brevyn Spann-Ford make it as an undrafted rookie but he's out here due to the numbers game of a 53-man roster. 

Offensive line (9)

IN: Tyler Guyton*, Tyler Smith , Cooper Beebe*, Zack Martin, Terence Steele, T.J. Bass, Brock Hoffman, Asim Richards, Josh Ball
OUT: Chuma Edoga (projected IR), Earl Bostick Jr. (IR), Dakoda Shepley, Matt Waletzko, Nathan Thomas*

I'm projecting Chuma Edoga to be put on IR on cutdown day as a designated to return player. As it stands, Josh Ball would appear to be the swing tackle as Asim Richards and Brock Hoffman appear set to be backups at left and right guard respectively. 

EDGE (5)

IN: Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Marshawn Kneeland*, Chauncey Golston, Carl Lawson
OUT: Viliami Fehoko Jr., Tyrus Wheat, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Sam Williams (IR), Durrell Johnson

Unfortunately, Fehoko played a lot in the preseason but did nothing with such an opportunity. The Cowboys will likely leave him out of the roster after picking him in the fourth round last year. 

Defensive tackle (5)

IN: Osa Odighizuwa (3T), Mazi Smith (NT), Jordan Phillips (3T), Linval Joseph (NT), Justin Rogers* (NT)
OUT: Albert Huggins, Denzel Daxon**

With the arrivals of Jordan Phillips and Linval Joseph, this unit is looking much better as the starters get backups to rotate with. Carrying three nose tackles will be tough but I'd be surprised if the Cowboys cut seventh-round rookie Justin Rogers. 

Linebacker (5)

IN: Eric Kendricks, Damone Clark, DeMarvion Overshown, Marist Liufau*, Buddy Johnson
OUT: Jason Johnson**, Brock Mogenson**, Damien Wilson, Willie Harvey Jr., Darius Harris, Nick Vigil

The Cowboys LB room is looking unbelievably deeper compared to last year's group. Buddy Johnson appears to be a legit roster candidate and with a strong preseason finale, he's in. The team values him on special teams, going as far as naming him captain for one of the preseason games.  

Cornerback (5)

IN: Trevon Diggs, Jourdan Lewis, Caelen Carson*, Israel Mukuamu, Kemon Hall
OUT: DaRon Bland (projected IR), Eric Scott Jr., Josh Butler, Josh DeBerry**, Andrew Booth Jr.

Bland's injury shakes things up for the Cowboys as he'll likely start the season on IR and miss a minimum four games. An outside addition ahead of cutdown day is an option. 

Mukuamu, a versatile defensive back who played more corner than safety this preseason, generated plenty of buzz late in camp and with a strong preseason finale, he gets the nod. Back in spring, Mukuamu worked almost exclusively with the reserves. If he makes the 53-man roster, it would be one of the biggest comebacks in the Cowboys' roster battles. 

Safety (4)

IN: Malik Hooker, Donovan Wilson, Juanyeh Thomas, Markquese Bell
OUT: Julius Wood, Emany Johnson**

The Cowboys are loaded at safety. Dallas goes long at the position in my projection. Juanyeh Thomas and Markquese Bell could start for several teams in the NFL and UDFA rookie Julius Wood was one of the preseason's biggest surprises. Wood could be kept with some roster gymnastics, like temporarily cutting C.J. Goodwin and Cooper Rush and calling them up from practice squad to start the year. 

Specialists (4)

IN: Brandon Aubrey (K), Bryan Anger (P), Trent Sieg (LS), C.J. Goodwin (ace)
OUT: None

These four are all roster locks. Goodwin could be a wink-nod cut to keep someone else on the roster and could be re-signed to the 53-man roster after being elevated from the practice squad a few times. (See Julius Wood at safety).

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