CFZ The (Roster) Games We Play - 53 Man "Prediction"

[xwalker]

You can't expose Fowler or Hankins they'll be snapped up by teams looking for DL help. I would expose Mckeon and Ball before Hankins and Fowler.

Teams make deals with players/agents such that the player agrees to be cut and then re-sign 48 hours later (after other players are moved to IR).

They gave CJ Goodwin an extra 100K one year for being cut then re-signed.

It must be a vested veteran because they don't have to go thru waivers.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

QB(3): Dak Rush Lance
RB(4): Pollard Deuce Dowdle Luepke
TE(3): Ferg Schoon Hendershot
WR(5): Lamb Cooks Gallup Tolbert Turpin
OT(5): Smith Steele Richards Edoga Waletzko
IOL(5): Martin Biadasz Smith Farniok Bass

Edge(2): Parsons Williams
DE(4):Tank Armstrong Fowler Golston
DT(4): Hankins Osa Mazi Fehoko
LB(4): LVE Clark Harper Jefferson
CB(5): Diggs Gilmore Bland Joseph Goodwin Scott
S(5): Hooker Kearse Wilson Mukuamu Thomas

P: Anger
K: Aubrey
LS: Sieg

PUP: Lewis
IR out for season: Overshown Phillips
IR candidates to return are Edoga Jefferson

the last two have to make the initial roster and could mean the return of Ball or McKeon on offense and Wright or Bell on defense. I also would also not be surprised if a LB off the waiver wire is brought in.

Last two players on the roster were Waletzko and Scott.

 

[Sinister]

Teams make deals with players/agents such that the player agrees to be cut and then re-sign 48 hours later (after other players are moved to IR).

They gave CJ Goodwin an extra 100K one year for being cut then re-signed.

It must be a vested veteran because they don't have to go thru waivers.

Yea I was thinking about it, I didn't completely understand.

 

[McMicah]

This is solid. I would do everything you have above with just 2 differences:
1. I think Nashon Wright goes on PuP. I would bring Malik Jefferson, an FA, or a Waiver guy in at LB bc that group is lighter than a feather.
2. Leupke or Isiah Land would be more valuable to me than McKeon. The only way I can see them keeping him is bc they are scared Schoon will be Mr Glass and McKeon isn’t eligible for the practice squad

If Overshown and Stephens had not been injured, I’d be so stressed out right now.

 

[Verdict]

Every year, teams get smarter and smarter about how they manipulate the various roster rules to 1.) make sure the best 48 players are active week 1, 2.) maintain the highest likelihood of keeping players with promise/contribution potential inside the building and 3.) leveraging the IR list to preserve potential contributors for later in the season. The form this takes is usually cutting vested veteran players (who thereby aren't subject to waiver claims) to either bring them back to the 53-man roster or sign them to the practice squad and elevate them on gameday W1. This allows certain injured or "injured" players (if you know what I mean) to be placed on IR, freeing up roster spots while keeping said injured/"injured" players inside the building. Last year, players cut who eventually ended up contributing were Brett Maher, Jake McQuaide, C.J Goodwin and Cooper Rush if I recall correctly. In 2021, it was McQuadie again and I think Jeremy Sprinkle as well.

So here is my 53-man roster prediction, as well as some detail on the possible roster "games" the Cowboys could play to maximize the impact the current 90-man roster has on the a.) 48-man gameday active roster, b.) the 53-man actual roster and c.) the 16 man practice squad. To be clear, this isn't necessarily a hard and fast "EXACT" prediction, rather I'm attempting to provide detail on some of the roster elements that *can* be taken advantage of to accomplish numbers 1, 2 and 3 above.

QB (3)

Dak Prescott
Cooper Rush
Trey Lance

RB (3)

Tony Pollard
Deuce Vaughn
Rico Dowdle

WR (6)

CeeDee Lamb
Brandin Cooks
Michael Gallup
Jalen Tolbert
KaVontae Turpin
Jalen Brooks

TE (5)

Jake Ferguson
Peyton Hendershot
Luke Schoonmaker
Sean McKeon
John Stephens Jr. (see note below)

OL (10)

Tyron Smith
Tyler Smith
Tyler Biadasz
Zack Martin
Terence Steele
Asim Richards
Matt Farniok
TJ Bass
Matt Waletzko
Josh Ball (see note below)

DL (8)

DeMarcus Lawrence
Osa Odighizuwa
Dorance Armstrong Jr.
Sam Williams
Mazi Smith
Chauncey Gholston
Neville Gallimore
Villami Fehoko Jr.

LB (5)

Micah Parsons
Leighton Van Der Esch
Damone Clark
Devin Harper
DeMarvion Overshown (see note below)

CB (6)

Trevon Diggs
Stephon Gilmore
DeRon Bland
Nashon Wright
Kelvin Joseph
Eric Scott Jr.

S (6)

Jayron Kearse
Donovan Wilson
Malik Hooker
Israel Mukuamu
Marquese Bell
Juanyeh Thomas

Specialists (1)

Bryan Anger

This totals out to our "initial" 53-man roster. However, there is much work that is left to do (should the team so choose).

Roster "Games"

The roster "games" teams play break out into a few main categories, which are 1.) players who make the initial 53-man roster but then are subsequently immediately moved to IR, thereby freeing up a roster spot. Some of these players are actually injured, while some of these players suffered a mysterious "injury" in the last preseason game which allows the team to essentially hide them within the organization for a developmental year. 2.) players who were recently cut but are then re-signed to take those open roster spots (usually vested veterans not subject to waiver claims), and 3.) players signed to the practice squad but expected to contribute week 1 by being elevated on gameday.

Players Moved To IR

John Stephens Jr.
Josh Ball
DeMarvion Overshown

Moving these 3 players to IR immediately after 53-man cutdowns accomplishes "protecting" them from waiver claims, while also freeing up 3 additional roster spots. Stephens and Overshown are obvious given their ACL injuries, whereas it sounds like Ball is a candidate as well based on his injury in the final preseason game tonight (based on Twitter reports).

Vested Veterans Likely To Be Re-Signed or Signed To The Practice Squad (To Then Be Elevated On Gameday)

Jonathan Hankins
Dante Fowler
Brandon Aubrey
Trent Sieg
C.J. Goodwin

4 out of the 5 of these players are vested veterans, with the lone exception being Aubrey, who in this case I don't think has any shot of being claimed by another team therefore the team is willing to risk exposing him to waivers. Please note, it's HIGHLY unlikely all of these players are cut, but rather this is just an example of the candidates who I think are possible to fill this role of dropping off the 53-man roster before coming back in some fashion (either being re-signed or being signed to the practice squad than elevated). FYI, the way I determine this list is by reviewing the contract status of every player on Over The Cap and identifying the players that are vested veterans (4 or more years of service) and have very low (~$1mm or less) dead money if they were to be cut post-June 1st. These salary parameters are a strong hint at "cut and re-sign" candidates based on the team's activity in recent years. In this case for this year, that has highlighted Hankins, Fowler, Sieg and Goodwin.

So all in all, my very rough prediction is that the 53 players mentioned above make the roster on Tuesday. THEN, Stephans/Ball/Overshown are moved to IR, taking the roster down to 50. Finally, 3 of the 5 players mentioned above are re-signed. Then, the other 2 of the 5 are signed to the practice squad and elevated on gameday.

VOILA, there you have it. Now, there is absolutely zero chance of this being anywhere near 100% correct. No way. But, it provides a "rough" framework of how I believe most teams are looking at cutdown day these days, where manipulating the roster rules is *almost* as important as identifying which of the talent on your 90-man roster is actually worth keeping in the organization. For sh*ts and giggles, here is my prediction of the 14-man practice squad as well. And yes, I say 14-man instead of 16-man, because as mentioned above 2 of the 16 spots are likely to be taken up by 2 of the "top 55" in the organization, thereby leaving 14 additional practice squad spots.

Malik Davis
Hunter Luepke
Simi Fehoko
Dennis Houston
Dontario Drummond
Earl Bostick Jr.
Chuma Edoga
Brock Hoffman
Quinton Bohanna
Isaiah Land
Jabril Cox
Malik Jefferson
Tyler Coyle

I post this simply because I'm a weirdo who gets annoyed by the various Cowboys reporters posting these "cut-and-dry" 53-man roster predictions when in reality it's much more nuanced than that and usually affects 55 to 60 players overall in the organization. Apologies in advance for the long post. Thanks for reading, and happy roster cut week!

I might be wrong, but I think you are overthinking keeping certain injured players on the initial 53 man roster. If you move a player to IR, that player does not need to clear waivers (Overshown). He is unlikely to play this season, so based on that he should be moved to IR prior to the cut down and save that roster spot.

They only have to be kept on the 53 and then moved to IR if they plan on having the option of bringing that player back as an active player during the season.

IMHO they will move any player clearly out for the season prior to the roster cut down to 53 (or whatever the number is these days).

 

[tayloner]

I might be wrong, but I think you are overthinking keeping certain injured players on the initial 53 man roster. If you move a player to IR, that player does not need to clear waivers (Overshown). He is unlikely to play this season, so based on that he should be moved to IR prior to the cut down and save that roster spot.

They only have to be kept on the 53 and then moved to IR if they plan on having the option of bringing that player back as an active player during the season.

IMHO they will move any player clearly out for the season prior to the roster cut down to 53 (or whatever the number is these days).

This is correct, someone else caught that and pointed it out above. So Overshown/Stephens, with no shot of playing this year, won't need to be on the initial 53-man. However, Josh Ball, with a shot to return, will. So I'm already off at least 2 spots on my prediction, opening up 2 more spots for cut guys.

 

[tayloner]

This is solid. I would do everything you have above with just 2 differences:
1. I think Nashon Wright goes on PuP. I would bring Malik Jefferson, an FA, or a Waiver guy in at LB bc that group is lighter than a feather.
2. Leupke or Isiah Land would be more valuable to me than McKeon. The only way I can see them keeping him is bc they are scared Schoon will be Mr Glass and McKeon isn’t eligible for the practice squad

If Overshown and Stephens had not been injured, I’d be so stressed out right now.

Could be for Wright, I've heard very little mention about his injury but it's gone on longer than I think I initially expected it to. To go direct to PUP though without settling on the initial 53-man roster, I think you had to be on it to start camp, like Jourdan Lewis (but not 100% sure). He could be another guy like Josh Ball who makes the initial 53-man and then is moved to IR.

 

[CCBoy]

3 players the Dallas Cowboys need to make room for on the 53-man roster​

1. Isaiah Land, edge​

The Dallas Cowboys are kind of loaded in the pass rush department, but that didn't prevent rookie free agent Isaiah Land from standing out during the preseason. The Cowboys took a chance on Land despite the fact that he's relatively undersized for his position, checking in at under 240 pounds.


Despite the lack of bulk and mass, Land proved himself to be worthy of a 53-man roster spot with a highly productive preseason of rushing the passer and getting after the opposing QB consistently.

2. Juanyeh Thomas, safety​

In the secondary, the Cowboys have had a number of young players stepping up this offseason, including second-year safety Juanyeh Thomas. Another former undrafted gem finding his way onto the Dallas Cowboys' active roster...

3. Hunter Luepke, running back/fullback/weapon​

When the Dallas Cowboys let go of Kellen Moore this offseason and Mike McCarthy took over as the primary offensive play-caller, you had to expect on some level that the fullback position could be coming back into the fold in a bigger way.

This was a hallmark of McCarthy's offenses with the Green Bay Packers where John Kuhn became a fan-favorite through the years. Especially given the fact that Luepke has positional versatility and can tote the rock as a traditional running back, I think Dallas needs to find a way to keep this guy on their 53-man roster.

https://thelandryhat.com/posts/3-pl...-53-man-roster-after-preseason-01h8yapzwzpt/3

 

[Verdict]

This is correct, someone else caught that and pointed it out above. So Overshown/Stephens, with no shot of playing this year, won't need to be on the initial 53-man. However, Josh Ball, with a shot to return, will. So I'm already off at least 2 spots on my prediction, opening up 2 more spots for cut guys.

I am on vacation in Jamaica and missed the silicate posts. Sorry about piling on you. Lol.

 

[HanD]

I don't think they keep gallimore over hankins. He's safe imo. They were talking about the two playing together in some situations.