7 surprise cuts from Cowboys 53-man roster
The 2026 Dallas Cowboys are one step closer to being gameday ready, with their roster being trimmed down to 53 players at Sunday’s deadline. We kept track of it all right here, and will continue to do so as there is still potential for shakeups, and building the practice squad remains a work in progress.
It’s been several months on end now when Cowboys fans have been chattering about how different the player acquisition phase of this offseason felt, and roster cuts helped keep this theme going in a lot of ways. A large percentage of the Cowboys cuts came and went without much surprise at all, as Dallas did considerably more work in the offseason to bring in established players worthy of roster spots from the jump.
This is especially true for a defense moving on from being one of the worst in franchise history just one season ago, with the only path forward being wiping out as much of the personnel responsible and starting fresh.
We still have a list of seven surprising cuts below, and they favor Christian Parker’s new-look defense with four names on the list. On offense, the headline that all 11 starters return from 2025 became locked in on Sunday, but the position with the most room for change brought plenty of surprises at cut day, with Dallas going shorter than expected on the final roster at running back.
Let’s get into the list.
CB Reddy Steward
Starting off with a mild surprise, Reddy Steward had a chance to be a rare carryover from that 2025 defense, but ultimately did not make the depth chart at cornerback. What most likely worked against Steward’s chances was the fact his best position is the nickel, where the Cowboys are expected to utilize first-round pick Caleb Downs plenty.
There has been some concern about using Downs as just a matchup player in the slot and not using his versatility in the best way possible, but the Cowboys answered for this by also keeping Cobie Durant and Ameer Speed as capable players in this role. Speed came on strong as a special teams player and ultimately this was enough to beat out a player like Steward.
Steward also did not have the draft pedigree of a player like Caelen Carson, who similarly had struggles throughout the preseason, but becomes a carryover player Dallas isn’t quite ready to give up on yet under new coaching as he also beat out Steward for a spot.
RBs Phil Mafah, Jaydon Blue, Israel Abanikanda
The Cowboys cuts at running back came one after another, after another, which is at least one more than anticipated for many fans. With Javonte Williams locked in as the starter, Jaydon Blue, Phil Mafah, Malik Davis, and Israel Abanikanda battled it out for the RB2 role, which Davis ultimately won – apparently in strong enough fashion to push the rest of his competition off the roster entirely.
The Cowboys now have a pair of similar backs that are at their best pounding the rock between the tackles, passing on the chance to have more of a dynamic duo by pairing Williams with Blue. All three of these cuts will be candidates to watch for potential signings to the practice squad, where Dallas can still call on them come gamedays.
After a balanced share out of the backfield in the preseason opener at the Seahawks, the Cowboys leaned on Blue to get them through the Cardinals game, and then saw Mafah lead them in carries against the Saints – a preseason finale that came and went without feeling like it had much impact on final roster decisions, especially on offense. Knowing how much this team prefers to keep the players they plan on using in the regular season on ice during exhibition season, the tea leaves here pointed to Davis earning the RB2 role.
Opting to not have either Blue or Mafah as a RB3 with potential depending on the game plan to rise to RB2 any given week is still a surprise. Another thing the Cowboys showed against the Saints, and Cardinals the week before, is a desire to get in on the trend of multiple tight end usage this season. This offense may still trend towards the middle or bottom of heavy TE personnel usage due to having three receivers that demand to see the field a lot, but when they do, Williams and Davis are the best “no nonsense” backs to keep for these looks.
Still, with the Cowboys having only Williams, Davis, and fullback Hunter Luepke on the roster out of the backfield, keep a close eye on how efficient they are in the short passing game as extensions of the run to make or break if moving on from a pair of second-year draft picks was the right decision.
LB Sam Williams
Back to another mild, or perhaps medium surprise, Sam Williams did not make the final roster of edge rushers. Rashan Gary, Donovan Ezeiruaku, Von Miller, and rookie Malachi Lawrence were four obvious choices on the depth chart here, and the other two spots went to players that flashed more than Williams this preseason, James Houston and Tyrus Wheat.
The Cowboys defense obviously has many goals for this season, but an early one to officially move on from last year’s disaster is simply to play as a cohesive unit where all 11 players are on the same page and playing together. Far too many times, both in his previous stint with the team and in this preseason, Williams played out of line with this goal and cost the team with reckless play, penalties, or poor technique. The splash play potential in between these mishaps from Williams always gave him some chance to still make the team, but Dallas opted for players with more consistent rush integrity in Wheat and Houston.
How much this group gets home to sack opposing quarterbacks is of course something to watch, especially if the Cowboys offense does what they’re expected to and piles on points to force opponents to play from behind. In more neutral situations and close games against top competition though, the Cowboys outside linebackers must do a better job than they have so far in setting a hard edge and not getting outflanked on the perimeter. Wheat and Houston may not be the first players that will help the defense here, but they are more capable than Williams while also having the speed to finish sacks in obvious pass situations.
The team made a clear statement about just how much they value all of these things by leaving Williams off the team going into week one.
DTs Jay Toia, Tommy Dunn
Sticking with the defense to conclude our list, Jay Toia and UDFA Tommy Dunn are a package deal to make for a roster surprise when it comes to depth on the interior. Both players did not help themselves nearly as much as they could have on Friday night at home against the Saints, but prior to that had strong performances earlier in the preseason. If for nothing else, both Toia and Dunn should be commended for eating up snaps at a position where the Cowboys arguably had the most density of talent riding the bench all preseason, with Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark, and Otito Ogbonnia just waiting for the Giants game.
Joining these three presumed starters on the roster are veteran Jonathan Bullard and rookie LT Overton. Where Toia was a true nose tackle with little pass rush upside, and Dunn was a bit more of a hybrid player with way more juice as a run stuffer, Bullard and Overton both have the right mix the Cowboys are apparently looking for of pass rush upside and anchoring ability at the point of attack.
With this pass rush potential from Bullard and Overton though comes concerns about how well Dallas can defend the inside run when the big names mentioned above aren’t on the field – one of our burning questions at nose tackle following cuts.
The Cowboys could rotate starters Kenny Clark, Otito Ogbonnia, and Quinnen Williams through different positions. No one else on the current roster is a natural fit as a 0-tech backup. This is a clear, under-addressed need that Dallas still has not solved. They may use practice squad callups to augment the room during the season.
It’s also not exactly like the Cowboys went long anywhere else in the front seven, either at outside linebacker by leaving Williams off, or linebacker with just four, making it more puzzling that neither Toia or Dunn could sneak into a spot.
The front office invested a lot to get both Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark on this team, and in the case of Williams, getting him extended with a lucrative contract this offseason. Clearly, the expectation is now that both should rarely come off the field and make us all forget about this end of summer discussion about why Jay Toia or Tommy Dunn didn’t make the team – although Dunn is seen as a potential PS candidate.
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