Cowboys 53-man roster projection ahead of mandatory minicamp

The Dallas Cowboys had just two Organized Team Activity (OTAs) sessions this offseason, concluding the voluntary nature of the return to football activities. Next up is the mandatory minicamp, where attendance is no longer optional. This is where things get interesting for players who have stayed away for all or most of the recent work. Defensive end Micah Parsons did show up, albeit for one day, during the second OTA session last week. WR CeeDee Lamb has not shown up at all.

This week is when they can actually be punished financially if they continue to work out on their own instead of with the team. A player who misses all three days will be fined over $100,000; which is a lot of money for most but a drop in the bucket for a player angling to receive over $100,000,000 in contract commitments.

Regardless of what the stars do, the real thrust of minicamp is to increase the execution speed for the group as a whole, specifically looking at the guys at the bottom half of the offseason roster. This is the last chance for many to set the coaches’ expectations for what they will be asked to show come training camp when the team fully immerses itself in preparation for the regular season. As such, a roster projection is in order.

Here is our best guess as to whom will be around once the smoke clears and the 90-man roster is whittled down to 53 players before Week 1, as well as a best guess at the 16-man practice squad. Every player predicted to make the roster is classified as a Lock, Secure, or “Think he makes it”.