The Dallas Cowboys have finalized their 53-man roster for the 2025 regular season. The process featured some heartbreaking cuts, expected departures and a possible miscommunication as it pertains to Perrion Winfrey, who ended up making it despite initial reports claiming the contrary.
That was by far the biggest shocker of cutdown day, but if you look at the 53 from a distance, it strongly hints that more moves are on the way. The cornerback and defensive tackle rooms in particular stick out like Dak Prescott in a mid-June quarterback ranking.
The Cowboys' DT room features Osa Odighizuwa, Solomon Thomas, Mazi Smith, Perrion Winfrey and Jay Toia. That CB room includes Trevon Diggs, DaRon Bland, Kaiir Elam, Zion Childress, Andrew Booth and Caelen Carson. Suffice it to say that both units have room for improvement.
Cowboys' 53-man roster hints at more moves at defensive tackle and cornerback
As far as the defensive line is concerned, Mazi Smith remains a glaring weak spot. The former first-round pick struggled to make an impact in preseason even against backups, and his tackle for loss in Friday’s finale - the result of a blown assignment - was celebrated on the Cowboys sideline like the kid who got picked last in gym class making a game-saving play in kickball.
While it's hard to cut the only true one-tech on the roster, Smith has not earned his way onto the roster by any means.
Toia at least showed more burst and power in preseason, but he is still a little raw and too inconsistent to have a prominent role in year one. That should be expected from a seventh-round rookie. He would benefit from a year on the practice squad, but we understand why he made it.
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The bottom line is the Cowboys need to go out and sign someone. And no, signing Earnest Brown back to the practice squad doesn't count. This room needs another big body who specializes at mucking up the run game to pair with Odighizuwa, Thomas and Winfrey.
The same can be said about cornerback. It helps a lot that Trevon Diggs is healthy enough to make the 53, but he is still a question mark for Week 1.
While Diggs, Bland, Elam and Childress - and Shavon Revel Jr. whenever he can get back healthy - form a solid core, Andrew Booth and Caelen Carson should not be trusted in any capacity. Carson can't stay healthy and Booth was one of the worst cornerbacks in football last season.
A Stephon Gilmore signing might not be necessary at this juncture, but there is surely someone hanging out there on the waiver wire who inspires more confidence than Booth and Carson. The latter could go on IR/designated to return with his knee injury after Dallas does some more roster shuffling but the point stands: he can't be trusted.
The Cowboys got a lot of the 53-man roster right in terms of giving spots to players who earned it, but defensive tackle and cornerback are two positions that need further tinkering if they want to contend with the best of what the NFC and AFC have to offer.