Roster 2024 vs roster 2023

[VaqueroTD]

Still plenty of Free Agents although the best are mostly gone. And have an impending draft to save some of these "DOWN" grades.

• Green improves. Noted if a position is filled with youth that will improve.
• Orange stays the same (12 wins last year but the goal is to win the Super Bowl and get over Playoff hump).
• Red has gone down based on what we know so far.

What worries me is that on both sides of the ball, the obvious talent loss is mostly in the trenches. Not only does that win football games, but our team has been notoriously soft in those areas in recent playoff losses.

POSITION	LOSSES	GAINS	IN LIMBO	VERDICT?	GRADE
QB	None	None	None	Same QB crew responsible for 12 wins and expect the same. Dak is probably at his peak. But the Playoff question mark will be there until the end.	SAME
RB	Pollard	None	Rico	No free agents signed yet. Running game was already bad last year, and looks worse so far this year.	DOWN
TE	None	None	None	Same crew coming back. Was decent last year, and Fergy and Schoon are very young and will only improve so have to assume will be better.	UP
WR	Gallup	None	None	You could mark them down for losing Gallup, but that's probably denying reality that Gallup never recovered from his injury and for some of his big plays, was also responsible for a lot of key drops last year. Some young depth we hope that will improve or step up in his absence.	SAME
OL	Tyron, Biadasz	None	Edoga	Two key starters gone. Coaches hopefully assume that Bass, Hoffman, Richards and the young guys will step up in their absence, and that is not a belief without merit based on some of their play time. But LT and C are the two most important positions on the line. Only comfort is that we assume Martin and Steele will be healthier on the right side. Let's face it, the offensive line didn't end well at all, Dak ran for his life several games. So hurts to see starters gone but wondering if youth can make up?	DOWN
DT	Gallimore	None	Hankins	With no one else added yet, a lot of faith here that Mazi will improve dramatically which isn't a great bet. Wasn't a strong crew to begin with, but already worse. Zimmer can't fix this if he doesn't get more help. After LB, defensive line is a key priority to improve.	DOWN
DE	Armstrong, Fowler	None	None	Biggest hit is DE depth. With DQ in charge, that would be a killer. With Zimm, we'll see. Just like DT, counting on an erratic young guy - Sam Williams - to turn the corner. Tank is one year older. If Tank and Micah aren't on the field most of the time, depth will mean a lot for this crew in the season.	DOWN
LB	LVE	Kendricks	None	A lot of pressure on Kendricks to produce the same in his old age. He can run the defense just as well as LVE, and has more talent, but more age. Might just be a scratch and deserve a grade of "SAME" but we went most of the year without LVE so will most likely show some improvement if Kenricks still has young legs. Big pressure on Overshown to recover fast from his ACL, and dude did shine in the limited time we saw him.	UP
S	None	None	Kearse	Even if Kearse doesn't come back, he had a serious decline last year. Wilson and Hook were your main guys, and doubtful that Zimm will rely on Safety as much. Not a great crew, but just good enough. I give it a "SAME" because whatever we lose in Kearse, we have Bell and others ready to play their true position. DQ loved him some safeties.	SAME
CB	None	None	Gilmore, Igbinoghene	Gilmore was an underrated vet who saved us in games like Seattle. Would be nice to have him again if the legs can keep up but since Diggs was gone most of the year, he's basically replacing Gilmore's absence. Bland will be better, and Lewis too because he rushed back from his ACL injury. The X Factor is can Diggs recover from his? Gilmore's biggest loss is does the team have enough depth after the first three corners - Diggs, Bland and Lewis?	SAME
SPECIAL TEAMS	None	None	None	They kept their long snapper, and hoping for another solid year from Aubrey, Turpin, and Anger. Goodwin is back too. Turpin seemed to regress a little last year on Returns, and it's hard to believe Aubrey willl be as clutch, but still looks to grade out as a "SAME."	SAME
COACHING	DQ AND KEY STAFF	ZIMM AND KEY STAFF	None	Defense may have fallen apart by year end, but DQ and Crew were also a HUGE reason for three 12 win seasons. DQ takes some key staff, but one of his best assistants, Al Harris, remains onboard. The good news is DQ is replaced by another ex-Head Coach with a good defensive resume. Challenge will be to see if two contrasting personalities in DQ and Zimm will mesh with the players. McCarthy and the offensive crew have one more year to mesh which is also positive as people forget that the new Offense didn't really start to produce until midseason. Biggest challenge is can McCarthy bring this team back mentally, with him a lame duck and another deflating defeat. Rumor is the clubhouse is toxic right now.	SAME

 

[VaqueroTD]

One thing I left out is overall roster depth. We have a lot of positions like CB, LB that change because someone who was gone all year comes back, but maybe don't have anything behind them. Corner is the best example. Having GIlmore onboard saved us. I didn't have any faith in the guys after Diggs, Gilmore, Lewis and Bland, and it's the same crew this year. But, probably not fair to rank that yet because the draft will provide some answers. Overall though, definitely looks like depth is more limited and the window has shut tighter.

- RB and OL position were not great last year, but no depth at RB, and all the new young OL depth will be starters this year unless we sign another FA.
- DE depth is gone. CB depth is gone. LB never had any depth to begin with.

Frustrating that the Boys sometimes seem shocked at these injuries that lead to losses. I believe the best way to solve depth is FA signings should be addressed as if there will not be a draft, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen.

 

[rambo2]

One thing I left out is overall roster depth. We have a lot of positions like CB, LB that change because someone who was gone all year comes back, but maybe don't have anything behind them. Corner is the best example. Having GIlmore onboard saved us. I didn't have any faith in the guys after Diggs, Gilmore, Lewis and Bland, and it's the same crew this year. But, probably not fair to rank that yet because the draft will provide some answers. Overall though, definitely looks like depth is more limited and the window has shut tighter.

- RB and OL position were not great last year, but no depth at RB, and all the new young OL depth will be starters this year unless we sign another FA.
- DE depth is gone. CB depth is gone. LB never had any depth to begin with.

Frustrating that the Boys sometimes seem shocked at these injuries that lead to losses. I believe the best way to solve depth is FA signings should be addressed as if there will not be a draft, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen.

I'm glad that they signed Kendricks and Lewis. It so good that they were able to get a solid linebacker and it doesn't cost them a compensatory pick. They now have 4 compensatory picks for 2025 which gives them some capital. They can make a trade or 2 like they did last year for Gilmore and Cooks.

 

[Amarillofan82]

Trenches, Trenches, Trenches! They really lost a lot of depth in this area. You never want to go into a draft and being forced to draft for need, not value. The Cowboys are pretty much required to draft the for the OL and DL now.

 

[GoCowboysGo]

Mostly agree, with the following exceptions:

TE - Same
WR - Down
LB - Down
Coaching - Down

 

[ATXSRT]

You can't grade the QBs the same until we see what Lance has in pre season. Dude could light it up.

 

[CowboyoWales]

Trenches, Trenches, Trenches! They really lost a lot of depth in this area. You never want to go into a draft and being forced to draft for need, not value. The Cowboys are pretty much required to draft the for the OL and DL now.

Exactly, we've lost depth. We can't afford, depth, especially if that depth hasn't the upside to be starters.
Use the draft pick comp to reinvest in your lottery tickets like Asim and/or Dorance.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Less than one week into FA and were comparing the roster to last year already?

 

[Creeper]

Given the players we lost or cut this year it is obvious that overall we are way down. Armstrong, Biadasz, Pollard, Tyron Smith, LVE, Hankins, and Gilmore were all starters. So was Kearse, but I think with the new defense that may not be so. Gallup was a contributor, as was Dowdle. Even McKeon got in there some when one of the TEs was hurt. And, of course, Fowler got a lot of quality snaps for Dallas.

The Cowboys have signaled very clearly that they are not going to replace these players with players who are better or even equal. Imagine all these player got hurt during the season and were replaced with backups, some of whom were signed off the street. That's what the Cowboys roster will looked like with the exception of a handful of draft picks, maybe 2 of which actual have a chance to start.

I do not think CeeDee, Micah and Diggs will be enough to win games. The same is true for Dak. We are fooling ourselves if we think this team will have a winning record at the end of the season.

And I am still concerned that we have not seen an extension for CeeDee yet. It's as if the Cowboys are deliberately stalling on creating CAP space. In the past, the Cowboys at least made attempts to sign their own players in free agency. This year they have really not even done that, unless you think signing Lewis and Goodwin is anything more than appeasement for the fans.

 

[jazzcat22]

Well, no where to go but up from here.
Things look to get better.

 

[Robster8989]

I guess my biggest question is what is the plan?
We lost some very good players in Armstrong, Tyler B. Pollard. All young and none broke the bank. Gilmore and Tyron are just high performing vets.
Would have been easy to keep all of them, PLUS add some outside players at positions of need, and improve the team, and still make it work.
Seems like in letting all these players go, we are rebuilding.
Fine. I understand that, but now this talk that Dak is still going to be resigned?
What is the point in resigning Dak if the overall team is getting worse, with the loss of all these really good players?
Either commit to a rebuild or go all in. The Cowboys FO, it seems, is doing neither.

 

[doomsday9084]

Good post and good effort.

IMO, the offseason is largely going to end this way. Some will prop up the draft as a bunch of saviors but after last year's nothing burger I think that's a mistake.

 

[morasp]

I think coaching is up. DQ was pretty good against teams with losing records in the regular season but Zimmer will be an upgrade
I think DT is up I'm not as down on Mazi as some and he should see a second year bump in performance. DTs frequently take time to develop in the NFL
Diggs was hurt last season so I think CB is also up

 

[jazzcat22]

We have 29 open roster spots.
7 will be draft picks. Some will be UDFA’s.

We will see how they fill these.

 

[blueblood70]

I really don't get all these posts free agency literally started three days ago you're telling me that all teams are now set and the good ones who acted fast enough are going to the Super bowl because they went and picked through the most expensive free agents at the beginning which by the way there wasn't that many moves as a matter of fact I'd say 80% of the free agents left are good enough to build very good quality teams since when does a team build a roster in the first four days of free agency????

You are comparing last year's roster 6 months before the season starts before the draft and before the real holes start to get filled by very quality players that are still out there a lot and I mean a lot you're probably gonna be more than 100 free agents and maybe 10 of them are gone and a big majority of those were running backs and who really wants to buy expensive used up running backs I know they could probably have somewhat of an impact but that's one of the easiest positions to fill a couple were quarterbacks we don't need quarterbacks so tell me all these positions that are already dried up show me not our roster compared to last year because we're not even close to finishing it why don't you show me all the free agents at every position that we're available and you can rank them and tell me which ones are gone and how many of them are left and I can tell you that your post is way off there's literally hundreds of good players three and every position that we can still pick up and build a very good team we are not gonna be desperate in the draft last year we went ahead and made little trades brought over Gilmore and cooks so we wouldn't have to be desperate those moves can be made undrafted free agent moves can be made and teams are still gonna be willing to trade some players during the draft or right after the draft because they're gonna end up cutting them then they're gonna be cut during cut down there are so many good players still there that these posts are so ridiculous that you act like if you didn't move in the first four days of free agency then it's over and that those teams are all destined for greatness and everyone else is left out in the cold I mean we have no shot nobody has a shot you mean like the words a couple years ago historically bad offseason what happened ohh I'd say twelve wins every offseason we say this and what happened ohh another twelve wins three straight playoffs 2 division titles and you think still that the first four days of free agency is the only thing a team has to guarantee a good season and a good roster????

All these posts giving bad grades to the offseason you know free agency and roster building 4 days in is ridiculous it's all overreactions it's all emotional people are all up in their feelings every offseason but this one's even worse let's give the damn front office a chance to build the roster 1st and it does not happen all in the first four days this is just fans trying to be right early and hopes we have a bad season so they can say look I was right well you did that three years in a row and you were wrong....

 

[Kwyn]

Still plenty of Free Agents although the best are mostly gone. And have an impending draft to save some of these "DOWN" grades.

• Green improves. Noted if a position is filled with youth that will improve.
• Orange stays the same (12 wins last year but the goal is to win the Super Bowl and get over Playoff hump).
• Red has gone down based on what we know so far.

What worries me is that on both sides of the ball, the obvious talent loss is mostly in the trenches. Not only does that win football games, but our team has been notoriously soft in those areas in recent playoff losses.

POSITION	LOSSES	GAINS	IN LIMBO	VERDICT?	GRADE
QB	None	None	None	Same QB crew responsible for 12 wins and expect the same. Dak is probably at his peak. But the Playoff question mark will be there until the end.	SAME
RB	Pollard	None	Rico	No free agents signed yet. Running game was already bad last year, and looks worse so far this year.	DOWN
TE	None	None	None	Same crew coming back. Was decent last year, and Fergy and Schoon are very young and will only improve so have to assume will be better.	UP
WR	Gallup	None	None	You could mark them down for losing Gallup, but that's probably denying reality that Gallup never recovered from his injury and for some of his big plays, was also responsible for a lot of key drops last year. Some young depth we hope that will improve or step up in his absence.	SAME
OL	Tyron, Biadasz	None	Edoga	Two key starters gone. Coaches hopefully assume that Bass, Hoffman, Richards and the young guys will step up in their absence, and that is not a belief without merit based on some of their play time. But LT and C are the two most important positions on the line. Only comfort is that we assume Martin and Steele will be healthier on the right side. Let's face it, the offensive line didn't end well at all, Dak ran for his life several games. So hurts to see starters gone but wondering if youth can make up?	DOWN
DT	Gallimore	None	Hankins	With no one else added yet, a lot of faith here that Mazi will improve dramatically which isn't a great bet. Wasn't a strong crew to begin with, but already worse. Zimmer can't fix this if he doesn't get more help. After LB, defensive line is a key priority to improve.	DOWN
DE	Armstrong, Fowler	None	None	Biggest hit is DE depth. With DQ in charge, that would be a killer. With Zimm, we'll see. Just like DT, counting on an erratic young guy - Sam Williams - to turn the corner. Tank is one year older. If Tank and Micah aren't on the field most of the time, depth will mean a lot for this crew in the season.	DOWN
LB	LVE	Kendricks	None	A lot of pressure on Kendricks to produce the same in his old age. He can run the defense just as well as LVE, and has more talent, but more age. Might just be a scratch and deserve a grade of "SAME" but we went most of the year without LVE so will most likely show some improvement if Kenricks still has young legs. Big pressure on Overshown to recover fast from his ACL, and dude did shine in the limited time we saw him.	UP
S	None	None	Kearse	Even if Kearse doesn't come back, he had a serious decline last year. Wilson and Hook were your main guys, and doubtful that Zimm will rely on Safety as much. Not a great crew, but just good enough. I give it a "SAME" because whatever we lose in Kearse, we have Bell and others ready to play their true position. DQ loved him some safeties.	SAME
CB	None	None	Gilmore, Igbinoghene	Gilmore was an underrated vet who saved us in games like Seattle. Would be nice to have him again if the legs can keep up but since Diggs was gone most of the year, he's basically replacing Gilmore's absence. Bland will be better, and Lewis too because he rushed back from his ACL injury. The X Factor is can Diggs recover from his? Gilmore's biggest loss is does the team have enough depth after the first three corners - Diggs, Bland and Lewis?	SAME
SPECIAL TEAMS	None	None	None	They kept their long snapper, and hoping for another solid year from Aubrey, Turpin, and Anger. Goodwin is back too. Turpin seemed to regress a little last year on Returns, and it's hard to believe Aubrey willl be as clutch, but still looks to grade out as a "SAME."	SAME
COACHING	DQ AND KEY STAFF	ZIMM AND KEY STAFF	None	Defense may have fallen apart by year end, but DQ and Crew were also a HUGE reason for three 12 win seasons. DQ takes some key staff, but one of his best assistants, Al Harris, remains onboard. The good news is DQ is replaced by another ex-Head Coach with a good defensive resume. Challenge will be to see if two contrasting personalities in DQ and Zimm will mesh with the players. McCarthy and the offensive crew have one more year to mesh which is also positive as people forget that the new Offense didn't really start to produce until midseason. Biggest challenge is can McCarthy bring this team back mentally, with him a lame duck and another deflating defeat. Rumor is the clubhouse is toxic right now.	SAME

Nice post.

 

[Ranching]

We have 29 open roster spots.
7 will be draft picks. Some will be UDFA’s.

We will see how they fill these.

Plus, there will be many quality players that are cut from others teams. We can add depth like that and maybe even a starter or 2.

 

[blueblood70]

We have 29 open roster spots.
7 will be draft picks. Some will be UDFA’s.

We will see how they fill these.

Yes and there's hundreds of free agents and quality players still there or will become available for trade or will be cut I mean we've even seen this during the season guys like dalvin cook and Hopkins being straight up cut after the trade deadline and in available this process is at least six months long not four days and I don't understand where these people are comparing our roster to last year when this process is only four days old!!!!

I mean I'd like to see what our 22 starters look like right now so out of the 22 available starters which ones do we really need to replace like where is the numbers and the players and positions to fill in the starting 22??

I mean off the top of my head I would say a running back very easy to replace especially in the draft not a big deal we need a center in an emergency we're probably gonna use Hoffman but we still have the draft for that and I guarantee there's a pretty solid veteran center who won't do any worse than Tyler did.. That covers the offense I don't see any more holes on the offense not immediate starters I don't see the holes because again in a pinch or starting offensive line right now if the season were to start it would have Tyler at left tackle Bassett left guard and Hoffman at center and Martin and Steele..

We have a lot of young players on this roster that might be able to fill some of those spots admirably.. But let's just say 3 on offense.. That would be the center guard and running back that we would need to still find a free agent and or the draft to fill those spots or the depth for those areas...

So let's go to the defense who's missing who was cut from the starting rotation?? I mean we put kendricks in there we still not got to figure out is Gilmore coming back? Who else I'm pretty sure all our other positions are pretty filled as far as starters go not rotational guys but the starters... Who's truly missing from the 22 starters that's where you start..​

​

So this isn't as big a desperate situation as people think we're talking about four players maybe that we need to find between the draft undrafted free agents and some veteran free agents left to fill four or five positions the rest of it that is easy...​

 

[America's Cowboy]

You can't grade the QBs the same until we see what Lance has in pre season. Dude could light it up.

 

[DandyDon52]

Given the players we lost or cut this year it is obvious that overall we are way down. Armstrong, Biadasz, Pollard, Tyron Smith, LVE, Hankins, and Gilmore were all starters. So was Kearse, but I think with the new defense that may not be so. Gallup was a contributor, as was Dowdle. Even McKeon got in there some when one of the TEs was hurt. And, of course, Fowler got a lot of quality snaps for Dallas.

The Cowboys have signaled very clearly that they are not going to replace these players with players who are better or even equal. Imagine all these player got hurt during the season and were replaced with backups, some of whom were signed off the street. That's what the Cowboys roster will looked like with the exception of a handful of draft picks, maybe 2 of which actual have a chance to start.

I do not think CeeDee, Micah and Diggs will be enough to win games. The same is true for Dak. We are fooling ourselves if we think this team will have a winning record at the end of the season.

And I am still concerned that we have not seen an extension for CeeDee yet. It's as if the Cowboys are deliberately stalling on creating CAP space. In the past, the Cowboys at least made attempts to sign their own players in free agency. This year they have really not even done that, unless you think signing Lewis and Goodwin is anything more than appeasement for the fans.

I predict 9-8 , and big maybe on playoff spot as WC
It doesnt matter who they draft, unless they do RB and get lucky.