The Dallas Cowboys have a 53-man roster. Many of the names on it are players we expect to see. Some are not. With a working roster in place, is there anything we can learn? What questions still need answered? Here are some conclusions we can draw from the decisions the team made over the weekend. THREE THINGS WE ALREADY KNEW 1. They were always going to keep Mike White The Cowboys made their roster commitment towards rookie quarterback Mike White when they drafted him in the fifth round of the draft. Sure, fifth-round draft picks don’t have immunity in year one, but quarterbacks are different. The Cowboys have said he was a development project and they were going to be patient with him. Stephen Jones said he doesn't expect new QB Mike White to play this year. Cowboys plan to develop him behind starter Dak Prescott and backup Cooper Rush. — Brandon George (@DMN_George) April 28, 2018 After an underwhelming showing during the preseason, fans weren’t jumping for joy about White being on the team, but it was really never about that. 2. The Cowboys feel good about their edge rushers Both Charles Tapper and Kony Ealy didn’t make the cut (although Tapper was signed to the practice squad). At the start of camp, fans liked the chances of both these players to solidify the team’s depth at defensive end, but over the duration of camp, things changed. First, Randy Gregory returned as the league reinstated him after serving almost two years worth of suspensions for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Not only that, but rookie fourth-round pick Dorance Armstrong was quick to show off his skills. Between those two guys and DeMarcus Lawrence and Taco Charlton, the team suddenly looks strong at defensive end. 3. The team is still sorting out the tight end position The Cowboys are still scrambling to figure out their tight end position. With nothing great at the top and not much separating them from the rest, the Cowboys decided to keep all four of their tight ends. For a while, it looked like Rico Gathers was on thin ice and the team was just looking for any reason to cut him loose, but even after news broke about his marijuana possession on Friday night, Gathers still made the team. It’s still unclear if the team is standing pat with what they have or if changes are coming. THREE THINGS WE LEARNED 1. The Cowboys are worried about the offensive line The news that Travis Frederick was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome really threw a heavy-duty wrench into the Cowboys offensive line situation. Joe Looney has been performing well as a backup, but he will now assume the role as the everyday center. The team now needs to have a backup for their backup. The team traded for Parker Ehlinger and then claimed Adam Redmond off of waivers to help shore up their offensive line. We don’t know a whole lot about these players, but clearly the Cowboys didn’t like what they had and shook things up a bit. 2. The Cowboys don’t need a RB3 It looked like a neck-and-neck battle between 2018 draft pick Bo Scarbrough and returning 2016 draft pick Darius Jackson for the team’s last spot on the running back depth chart. Fans were torn on which one would win the job. As it turns out, the Cowboys kept neither of them (although Jackson returned to practice squad). When you think about it, it kind of makes sense. I mean, neither player was running away with the job. Neither player is going to be able to carve out a role with Ezekiel Elliott firmly entrenched as the team’s work horse and Rod Smith the clear-cut no. 2 back. It seems like this third running back is just a wasted spot that can be addressed as needed. 3. The team doesn’t need to go heavy at WR Whether you supported the youngster Lance Lenoir or the veteran Deonte Thompson, many thought at least one of them would crack the roster. Lenoir had a great training camp and at one point looked like a roster lock. Thompson, on the other hand, had a strong rapport with new receivers coach Sanjay Lal and figured to be a great candidate from the moment he was signed in free agency. But to the surprise of many, neither Lenoir or Thompson made the initial 53-man roster. Noah Brown was kept, but He’s now going to IR, and the team will bring back Deonte Thompson. THREE THINGS WE STILL NEED ANSWERS TO 1. What drove the Bailey decision? To the shock of everyone, the Cowboys released veteran kicker Dan Bailey and have put their field-goal-kicking faith in Brett Maher. That’s right, the league’s second-most accurate kicker in NFL history is out of a job. Maher first emerged in Dallas in 2013 when the undrafted free agent (from the Jets) was signed just as a preseason leg to allow Bailey to recover from an injury. He was cut at the end of preseason. After spending a few years in the Canadian Football League, he’s once again back in Dallas. It looked like deja vu all over again as he was just around to keep Bailey fresh. But that wasn’t the case this time as Maher is now the Cowboys regular kicker. It’s still a mystery as to why the Cowboys decided to cut Bailey loose as nobody saw this coming. Had Bailey declined that much? Was his on-field performance not worth premium level salary for a kicker? Hopefully, the organization will shed some light on this decision soon because inquiring minds want to know. 2. What are the Cowboys doing in the secondary? Charvarius Ward was traded. Duke Thomas and Donovan Olumba was released. The Cowboys only have four cornerbacks. The team initially only kept four safeties as well, but have since added Ibraheim Campbell off of waivers. If you’re doing the math at home, that’s a very raw secondary group. Byron Jones is the only defensive back the Cowboys have that held down a starting job prior to last season. Six of the nine defensive backs on their roster are either late-round picks or undrafted free agents. Needless to say, this makes many uneasy about the state of the secondary. Do the Cowboys have something up their sleeve? 3. How will the defensive tackle position shake out? The team has a lot of good players on the interior line, but it’s still unclear how this whole thing will play out. From top down, there are questions. When it comes to the starters - who’s starting where? Tyrone Crawford is now in the mix in looks like a good 3-tech candidate. But then what do you do with Maliek Collins? I guess he could play 1-tech, but Antwaun Woods has been playing well at that position. And that is not even taking into account that David Irving will be coming back after he’s done serving his suspension. When it comes to the reserves, that’s unclear as well. Jihad Ward and Brian Price have been released, but Datone Jones and Daniel Ross are still there.<doc-sep>The Dallas Cowboys released defensive tackle Jihad Ward on Friday as the team has begun their roster cuts to get down to 53 players. After having a good showing during OTA’s, Ward started generating quite the buzz as it appeared the Cowboys might have found a solid piece to the interior of the defensive line. But ever since, it’s been tough for Ward to keep his head afloat. Cowboys have released Jihad Ward. — Bobby Belt (@BobbyBeltTX) September 1, 2018 Several players have emerged at defensive tackle and passed up Ward on the depth chart, most notably - Antwuan Woods, who has surprised us all. And now that Tyrone Crawford is spending some time on the inside, it’s just a packed house on the interior defensive line and the team didn’t feel that Ward’s services were needed. The team made a draft-day trade to acquire Ward when they shipped last year’s fourth-round draft pick, Ryan Switzer, to Oakland. Ward was selected in the second round (44th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft. He had trouble getting going in Oakland after injuries caused him to miss valuable time in training camp in each of his two seasons with the Raiders. After two unimpressive season, the Raiders had seen enough and sent Ward packing. The Cowboys were high on him as he was ranked five spots after Maliek Collins on the team’s draft board in 2016 and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli got a good look at him when he coached Ward in the 2016 Senior Bowl. Like many other players the Cowboys have shown interest in, Ward doesn’t have a lot of experience at the game of football. He didn’t start learning the game until late into his high school years. Is he just a late bloomer who could still show improvement? Maybe that’s what the Cowboys thought when they struck the deal to bring him over. Despite the hopes that Ward could revitalize his career in Dallas, he just hasn’t been able to prove himself on the football field. Instead, it’s been par for the course with Ward who is pretty much playing at the same level he was in Oakland. Former #Raiders DI Jihad Ward has earned a 58.1 defense grade across 40 preseason snaps, ranking 71st among qualifiers at his position. Not sure why DAL would cut Ward when he's already in midseason form, tbh. https://t.co/63oIMQdaNa — Austin Gayle (@AustinGayle_PFF) August 22, 2018 The about tweet was before the team’s last preseason game against the Houston Texans, and it should be noted that Ward had his best game on Thursday night. But apparently, it was too little too late. Do you agree with the Cowboys decision to cut Ward?<doc-sep>Normally, the annual trimming of the Dallas Cowboys roster to the league-mandated 53 players is a dull and predictable affair. Not this year. The Cowboys made some bold and daring moves with their personnel that will undoubtedly go a long way towards their final fortunes in the upcoming campaign. Here is a look at three cuts and three keeps that could shape the Cowboys’ 2018 season in terms of wins and losses. Three Cuts K Dan Bailey Where else to begin other than with the most shocking transaction of the weekend? Dallas’ unexpected move to release the second-most accurate placekicker in NFL history sent shockwaves across the fan base and left many wondering simply, why? Bailey has experienced a downturn in his field goal accuracy rate over the last three seasons, going from a near-perfect 94% to 84% and finally to 75% in 2017. A groin injury last year sidelined him mid-season and after his return for the final five contests, he was only 5 of 8 on his placements while missing the first two extra points of his career. Then there is Bailey’s salary, which was slated to be $3.4 million dollars for 2018. It seems steep when not taken in perspective to the compensation earned by other kickers across the NFL. Had Bailey been retained, his cap hit would have ranked him in a three-way tie for seventh in the NFL. At the end of the day, the Cowboys brass decided it was better to take an $800,000 dead money penalty rather than retain Bailey’s services for $4.2 million. The cheaper price was surely a consideration, but in the end the Cowboys simply felt Maher had a stronger leg and went in that direction. History would appear to be on their side as they have gone through a similar scenario with Bailey’s immediate predecessor, Nick Folk. Did Dallas make the right choice again? An accurate placekicker is an absolute must on a team built for long and time-consuming drives that have to result in points on the scoreboard. Any dip in that payoff factor could have morale-sapping consequences and cost the team football games. Continue…<doc-sep>
Saturday was a wild day as far as the Dallas Cowboys go. They released Dan Bailey for crying out loud. Due to how hectic the day was it’s possible that something went over your head a bit. Rico Gathers made the Dallas Cowboys 53-man roster. AND HE DID IT THE MORNING AFTER HE HAD BEEN ARRESTED. There are many Cowboys fans who have been wanting this with all their might, so I’m sure if you fall in that camp you’re more overjoyed than surprised, but there are definitely those that were shocked by it. Gathers wasn’t utilized all that much in the preseason, and it’s not like the Cowboys have spoken glowingly of him since the offseason began. His now-real roster spot is definitely an upset of sorts. Rico’s roster spot is definitely a surprise The Cowboys handled Gathers very, what’s the word, precariously last season when he also made the roster. It’s true that Gathers made the team a year ago, but it was more of a formality than anything as he was put on injured reserve immediately after, never to be seen again on the year. This year is very different. Rico Gathers made the team and is fully healthy (although we’ll see what comes of his arrest, hopefully nothing). Dallas wouldn’t have kept Rico on their squad if they didn’t plan on using him so we have to ask... are the Cowboys actually going to use Rico Gathers? As impossible as it felt like this might have been at any point, it seems like the answer to this question is simply that they do plan on using Rico. It feels like forever ago, but we saw what the big-time tight end was capable of as far as redzone weapons are concerned during last year’s preseason, maybe the Cowboys are going to do that in games that count. Could the Cowboys use Rico as their redzone specialist? Kind of like a receiver they let walk over the offseason? Rico Gathers is not Dez Bryant. He will never be Dez Bryant. Let’s make that clear. While Gathers will never be who the Cowboys all-time leader in receiving touchdowns was, it’s possible that the team uses him like they used Dez. At the very end of Bryant’s time in Dallas he was a redzone weapon at best, is that not what Gathers specializes in? It’s possible that Gathers develops into a total and complete tight end, but that would still take some time to accomplish. People wondered how the Cowboys were going to replace Dez offensively and while they have other players to do that in between the 20s, is Gathers partly how they’re going to address that absence in the paint? This would be capitalizing on Gathers’ greatest skills as a football player and whether you’ve championed his cause or insisted that he wasn’t a great overall player, we all know this to be true. Keeping Gathers helps the Cowboys excel, at the very least, in one specific department and that department is the one where you obtain points. It would be a good idea to do this. It’s one thing for the Cowboys to have Gathers on a 90-man roster and not give him chances in the preseason. It would be a whole different level of frustrating if they did this during the regular season. For that reason and that reason alone, it makes sense that they’re planning on riding this wave. While there are certainly Gathers supporters, there’s nobody saying that he’s a player that’s definitely going to set offensive records; however, he can be someone that helps. It’s time to use that help. Hopefully this is what the Cowboys have realized over the course of who knows how long. It’s Rico Gathers time, and it seems like they agree.