Dallas Cowboys Final Cuts Tracker

The Dallas Cowboys will trim their roster down from 75 players to 53 today. News about who has been released has very slowly seeped through Valley Ranch. Below, you will find the current list of known players who have been confirmed to be cut. Most of these confirmations were acquired from the players themselves. Most via Twitter. The team is not required to submit their official cut list to the NFL league offices until Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

Cowboys Final Cut Tracker – Confirmed Released Players

CUT – Quarterback Alex Tanney

CUT – Wide Receiver Anthony Armstrong

CUT – Linebacker Taylor Reed

CUT – Safety Jakar Hamilton

CUT – Running back Kendial Lawrence

CUT – Wide Receiver Tim Benford (according to NFL.com)

CUT – Linebacker Thaddeus Gibson (according to NFP)

CUT – Cornerback Sterling Moore (according to his Twitter)

Here’s the rest of the official list: T Edawn Coughman, T Demetress Bell, CB  Xavier Brewer, DT Jerome Long, DE Jabari Fletcher, LB Caleb McSurdy, LB Cameron Lawrence, LB Thaddeus Gibson, G Ray Dominguez, WR Danny Coale, DE Jason Vega, CB Micah Pellerin, LB Brandon Magee and C/G Kevin Kowalski.

Related Roster Moves

S Matt Johnson – Placed on Season Ending IR

S Danny McCray – Re-signed with team at a reduced salary. McCray’s salary for the season has been reduced from $1.323 million to somewhere around $700,000 allegedly.

Stay tuned throughout the day with The Landry Hat as we will continue to update these cuts on this page until the official list is released.

Here are my thoughts about some of the cuts so far:

Aug 4, 2013; Canton, OH, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Alex Tanney (7) scrambles in the 2013 Hall of Fame Game against the Miami Dolphins at Fawcett Stadium. The Cowboys defeated the Dolphins 24-20. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

QB Alex Tanney – Although this is not a surprise, I was hoping the Cowboys would look to develop Tanney as Orton’s eventual replacement. And this still might happen. If Tanney clears waivers, he is an obvious choice for the practice squad. This guy beat out Nick Stephens with a lot less time in the system under his belt. I’d love to see what he could do with more time.

WR Anthony Armstrong – A veteran wide receiver with a history of success in the NFL, Armstrong was a strong candidate to make the final 53. Especially considering his ability to play special teams. But the competition at the wideout position, the lack of roster space available and various injuries throughout the team made keeping Armstrong impossible. He’s a good player who belongs on a team somewhere.

LB Taylor Reed – The guy can tackle. He showed that by leading the Hall of Fame game with nine. Unfortunately, Reed was not able to build on that performance. Again, it’s just became a numbers game. We would love to keep him and develop his skills, but the lack of roster depth in other areas squeezes players out.

S Jakar Hamilton – For die-hard Cowboys fans, Hamilton was a sleeper choice to make this team. But he wasn’t able to leave his mark in the preseason, only really popping up on the radar with special teams play. For a team in dire need of safety help, it says a lot about their feeling towards the player when they make a cut within their area of need.

RB Kendial Lawrence – The young runner never really had a chance to make the final 53. After impressing scouts during mini-camp, Lawrence failed to do the same in training camp. With the strong preseason of both Joseph Randle and Phillip Tanner, Lawrence was the odd man out from the start. Although I expect the Cowboys to keep four running backs on the final roster, Lawrence was never one of them.

WR Tim Benford – I was really pulling for Benford to make the team this year. He was impressive in training camp last season and landed on the Cowboys practice squad. And Benford really played well in the later games of the preseason, becoming a favorite target for both Nick Stephens and Alex Tanney. Unfortunately, the numbers squeezed him out. There was just too much talent all vying for what I believe was just one open receiver spot. I’m unsure if the Cowboys will try to place him on the scout team once again. They may decide to go in another direction.