By 6:00 p.m. EST this Sunday, all NFL teams will have to reduce their rosters down to the 53-man limit for the regular season. As the Dallas Cowboys work toward that deadline, many things will go into their decisions. One of them, as much as we may not like it, could be related players' existing contracts.
Ideally, roster battles would be decided solely on performance. As Tony Romo famously said in 2016, "Football is a meritocracy." And while that is true more often than not, millions of dollars are also involved. Every now and then, merit may lose out to managing expenses.
For the 2026 Cowboys, who are some players whose contracts could help them keep a roster spot?
4 Cowboys whose roster spots could be decided by their contracts
Sam Howell - QB
When Dallas added Howell in free agency last March, they have him a one-year, $2.5 million contract. That's not unusual for a backup, especially one who still had to battle for the second-string job with Joe Milton III. But what made this deal odd was that it was fully guaranteed, even the $2 million base salary.
That kind of guaranteed money, even if it is roughly 1% of the salary cap, is not thrown around lightly. The Cowboys must have been fairly confident that Howell would be on the roster this season, even if he didn't beat Milton for the backup job.
At this point, we're trending toward that very outcome. Milton clearly outplayed Howell in the last preseason game, putting Sam on the ropes in Friday night's finale against the Saints. There's still a chance he might rally and even things back up, but it's hard to see him winning the battle outright now.
Here's where the contract gets involved. If Howell isn't QB2, some would suggest that he shouldn't make the roster at all. After all, Dallas has run with just two rostered QBs several times over the years, including last season with Milton and Dak Prescott. And if you have those same two guys, with Milton showing a lot of improvement, why not repeat?
One reason that the Cowboys could do that in 2025 was they had a third QB in Will Grier who was no threat to be poached from the practice squad. Trying to get Howell to that group, and keep him there throughout the entire season, is dicier given his superior experience and the good things he's put on tape just this summer.
If Dallas felt confident in Howell being safe on the practice squad, then sure. The money is already spent, so whether he plays out his contract this year or it gets terminated at final cuts, it makes no difference to the team or player. But if another team did poach Howell, then the Cowboys are getting nothing for that $2.5 million.
Given that, even if they had the inclination to cut Howell this weekend, Dallas is probably going to keep him on the 53 to preserve their QB depth and make sure that money doesn't go to waste.
Sam Williams - OLB
Coincidentally, it's the Sam on defense who presents a similar conundrum. It was surprising enough that Dallas brougth Williams back at all this offseason, but especially that the bulk of it was guaranteed. Williams' entire $1.4 million base salary is owed to him regardless of if he makes the roster, and he got a $600k signing bonus along with it.
Many were high on Williams' potential to be a great fit as an OLB in Christian Parker's scheme. And when camp started, there were great reports about his performance. But things have cooled off as August has rolled along. With the Von Miller signing and James Houston still thriving, Williams is now on the verge of not making the team.
What we don't know is how the decision-makers in Dallas feel about Williams versus guys like Houston or Marist Liufau.
Let's say he's closer to Houston than we realize, and that the Cowboys are only going to keep five OLBs. Dallas can cut Houston with zero dead money, actually saving about $1.15 million off the cap in the move. Meanwhile, cutting Williams means getting nothing back on the $2 million cash they just they invested in his second-chance season.
What if Houston is a lock and they're considering Williams and Liufau for the sixth spot? Liufau is still on his rookie deal, but in Year 3 it only has $479k in dead money left. He's due to have a $1.3 million base salary in 2026, which is about the same as Williams except for the key fact that it isn't guaranteed.
So Dallas can either pay Liufau on top of what they'd guaranteed to Williams, or just run with the guy they've already paid.
Cash is really the bigger deal here, not the cap. Houston and Liufau are guys who only get paid if they make the roster. Williams' guarantees mean the money is coming whether he makes the roster or not. If the front office needs a tiebreaker, that one works just fine for them.
Drew Shelton - OT and Devin Moore - CB
This idea could work in some of our rookies' favor, too.
Even if you don't think Shelton and Moore deserve roster spots based on their rookie offseason, which is a bit harsh for Day 3 picks, that means the Cowboys will have given each of them roughly $1.2 million as a reward just for being drafted. You may shed the base salaries and open spots for other prospects, but the signing bonuses from their fourth-round rookie deals are lost.
That's one reason why fourth-rounders tend not to get cut in their first season. More lucrative deals than other Day 3 guys, thanks to the rookie wage scale, generally make them harder to cut. Of course, it's still small in the grand scheme of NFL money. But any seven-digit figure will still give owners pause.
Money may be a factor as Cowboys form their 53-man roster
Will we be shocked if any of these players get cut? The rookies, maybe, but not for financial reasons as much as wasted draft capital. We wouldn't be overly stunned about Sam Howell and definitely not with Sam Williams. Again, the money isn't prohibitive to those moves being made.
But if there are tough conversations involving these players, money may be a factor. Be it in a battle at one position or in trying to decide who to keep and who to cut from a holistic perspective, the Cowboys will be looking at more than just how they played and practiced.
It's the part of the game nobody likes to talk about, but it's going to play a part during this weekend's roster cuts.
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