5 Cowboys veterans who could be left off the final roster
By Angel Torres
Ty Nsekhe, OT
The Dallas Cowboys have unofficially made it a custom lately to go out and sign a swing tackle for the season. It has worked in the past so the move itself isn’t surprising.
This year was no exception as they brought in mammoth offensive tackle Ty Nsekhe.
Nsekhe signed with Dallas on a one-year $1.75 million deal with $500 thousand guaranteed. It was expected that he would solidify the offensive line in case of an emergency. The question is what happens when the emergency clause is suspect?
It doesn’t matter if the Dallas Cowboys trade or release Nsekhe as moving him from the club cost the Cowboys that guaranteed money but the team can recoup $1.25 million if he is not on the roster in any way.
Nsekhe has struggled this training camp but has he done enough to keep a spot on the roster? I thought fellow lineman Brandon Knight would make a better guard than tackle and that didn’t seem to translate.
I did not find it surprising to see Knight start the final preseason game at tackle. I kind of wish the team made this move earlier. Was Knight starting at tackle in the preseason finale an indication that Nsekhe might be trade bait?
There seems to be an extreme shortage of capable starting offensive linemen so trading Nsekhe might not be the best of ideas. Trading him could net the team both salary cap relief and maybe a better draft pick in return.
Those are the types of conversations I would imagine are currently going on when talking about final roster moves.
In limited play, Nsekhe looked like he struggled with footwork on the left side. I think he didn’t get enough depth on his kick slide and players ran around him because of the opening he left. He was a better right tackle and it looks like he feels more comfortable on that side.
That is encouraging news until you realize left tackle Tyron Smith has not played in all 16 games in a season since the 2015 season. Before that Tyron only missed one game in his first five seasons.
Brandon Knight is a depth piece but is he enough to move on from Ty Nsekhe?