Dallas Cowboys: Wrapping up a wild day of roster cuts

The Dallas Cowboys front office made several shocking decisions on Saturday in order to trim down their roster to 53 players. Let’s review them.

The cut down from nearly 90 players to 53 is brutal. For the Dallas Cowboys, it meant making some harsh decisions that have resulted in some talented players being placed on the waiver wire or on the streets.

Through training camp and the preseason, there has been much speculation about which players would crack the Cowboys active roster and who would be left on the outside looking in. On Saturday, we learned the answers.

Here’s the list of players by position who were waived, release or traded in order for the Cowboys to get down to the league mandated 53-man roster.

Running Back

Bo Scarbrough
Darius Jackson
Jordan Chunn
Trey Williams (Waived/Injured)

Wide Receiver

Lance Lenoir
Deonte Thompson
Dres Anderson
K.D. Cannon
Darren Carrington
Mekale McKay

Tight End

David Wells

Offensive Line

Korren Kirven, OT
Chaz Green, OT
Kyle Bosch, OG
Jake Campos, OT
Matt Diaz, OT
Damien Mama, OG
Jacob Ohnesorge, C

Defensive Line

Kony Ealy, DE
Jihad Ward, DT
Charles Tapper, DE
Lewis Neal, DT
Austin Larkin, DE
Caraun Reid, DT

Linebacker

Eric Pinkins
Tre’Von Johnson
Joel Lanning
Kyle Queiro

Cornerback

Duke Thomas
Marquez White
Donovan Olumba
Charvarius Ward (Traded to the Chiefs)
Kameron Kelly

Safety

Marqueston Huff
Jeron Johnson

Specialists

Dan Bailey, K
Scott Daly, LS

Undoubtedly, the biggest surprise of all the moves was the release of veteran kicker Dan Bailey. A stalwart of the position for years, the Cowboys never gave any indication the 30-year old was in danger of losing his job. Yet he did. And to Brett Maher, a former CFL kicker who is only two-year younger than Bailey and far less experienced. But also far less expensive.

Dallas opted to only go with two running backs for now on their active roster (Ezekiel Elliott, Rod Smith), making rookie Bo Scarbrough and Darius Jackson both expendable. Receivers Lance Lenior and Deonte Thompson both ended up on the chopping block, although either could return if Noah Brown is placed on Injured Reserve on Sunday. If they pass through waivers, that is.

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The Chaz Green era in Dallas has finally come to an end. The former third-round pick might need some new surroundings in order to regain his confidence. Finally, the trio of Charles Tapper, Kony Ealy, Jihad Ward represents failures on many levels for this Cowboys’ front office. The latter two were just acquired this offseason but ultimately disappointed.

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