4 Cowboys fan favorites who are in danger of being cut before Week 1
- Tough decisions will need to be made on the defensive line
- Competition in the return game could be a problem for KaVontae Turpin
- There is a lot of pressure on Deuce Vaughn to make the final roster
2. Dorance Armstrong, EDGE
One of the spots the Dallas Cowboys are really strong right now is off the edge.
Of course, everybody knows Micah Parsons. Parsons has quickly developed into one of the biggest stars on the defensive side of the ball across the entire NFL, and he's made the full-time transition to the edge after some questions coming out of Penn State about whether or not he'd float between the edge and off-ball linebacker.
Veteran DeMarcus Lawrence is also obviously still entrenched in the rotation for Dan Quinn's defense but one of the players to be watching out for in 2023 is Sam Williams, a second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Williams had four sacks last season for the Cowboys in very limited action, along with 10 tackles for loss and 9 quarterback hits. He's in line for a bigger role this coming season as well, and the Cowboys also have Dante Fowler Jr. who had six sacks and a pair of forced fumbles last year, as well as 2023 fourth-round pick Viliami Fehoko.
Despite having a career-high 8.5 sacks last year in 17 games played, all of those other players on the roster could lead to longtime Cowboys pass rusher Dorance Armstrong getting the ax at some point here in the training camp/preseason process. The Cowboys may be much more likely to try and trade Armstrong rather than cut him, but trading or cutting him would add almost $6 million in cap space and Dallas might look to capitalize on his value after last season given the injury issues teams typically go through this time of year.
If Dallas makes it through the preseason unscathed off the edge, don't be shocked if a big-name player gets cut or traded like this.