4 Cowboys fan favorites who are in danger of being cut before Week 1

The Dallas Cowboys have one of the best rosters in the NFL right now, which means tough roster decisions are going to have to be made at some point in August and September. The Cowboys don't have the luxury of keeping everybody on the 53-man roster, so this could be an attractive team when it comes to other teams looking to make trades and upgrade themselves.

Obviously, the Dallas Cowboys are going to do everything in their power to keep the meat of this roster intact. They're not just going to let good players go for nothing, but every team usually has at least one surprise roster cut after the preseason.

Could any Cowboys fan favorites be on the chopping block?

Top 4 Dallas Cowboys fan favorites that may be cut before Week 1

1. Neville Gallimore, DL

Neville Gallimore was a third-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft (82nd overall) and he's played 35 career games for the Dallas Cowboys. He missed most of the 2021 season but bounced back to appear in 16 games in 2022 where he racked up 33 total tackles, a sack, and a QB hit.

As of right now, though, Gallimore's roster spot seems anything but safe or set in stone. The Cowboys have seen some emergence over the first two years of Osa Odighizuwa's young career, and he appears entrenched in the starting lineup. They brought back Johnathan Hankins in free agency. They used their first-round pick on defensive tackle Mazi Smith.

Do those things prevent the Cowboys from keeping Neville Gallimore? Not certainly, but there's at least a chance that the emergence of some of these other players could cause Dallas to take the nearly $3 million in cap savings if he's not going to be playing a significant role for that defensive front.

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.

3. KaVontae Turpin, RS

KaVontae Turpin certainly won over some hearts last year in Dallas as he made it to the Pro Bowl as a return specialist, racking up 834 all-purpose yards and averaging more than 10 yards per punt return.

Turpin brought some electric abilities to the return game but barely contributed to the offense at all with just 26 yards from scrimmage. You can be a Pro Bowl player in the return game one year in the NFL and looking for a job in free agency the next. It's a brutal business.

The Cowboys made some changes to the wide receiver room in the 2023 offseason, enough to lead me to believe that KaVontae Turpin is probably starting all over again this offseason. Despite being a really good return man, he's not a "core four" special teams player. He doesn't contribute heavily to the offense. He's an additional specialist.

Some rosters are constructed to include guys like that, and that's okay, but there will be competition from elsewhere on the roster for Turpin's job, which could lead to a fan favorite getting released.

As the MVP of the USFL in 2022, Turpin's story was closely followed by many Dallas Cowboys fans, and his ascent to making the roster was one of the coolest storylines last year. But he's starting over again in 2023.

4. Deuce Vaughn, RB

The Dallas Cowboys drafting Deuce Vaughn was simply one of the coolest stories of the entire 2023 NFL Draft.

Vaughn's father is Dallas Cowboys scout Chris Vaughn. Chris got to let his own son know that the team he works for would be drafting him. It was one of the greatest moments you'll see during the Draft.

Despite how awesome this moment was, did I mention that the NFL is a brutal business? Deuce Vaughn is an exciting young player, but he's facing an uphill battle to make it in the NFL. He scored just a 4.32 on the RAS (Relative Athletic Score) scale out of 10, and at 5-foot-5, 179 pounds, he ranks in the lowest percentile you'll probably ever see when it comes to players at his position (or any other, for that matter).

Every Dallas Cowboys fan is going to be rooting for Deuce Vaughn, there's no question about it, but he's facing some stiff competition in the form of undrafted rookie Hunter Luepke, veteran free agent Ronald Jones, as well as Malik Davis and Rico Dowdle. Vaughn's going to need a big preseason to set himself apart from those other guys and he could end up hitting the waiver wire if he doesn't show enough in the next six weeks.

Even as a sixth-round pick, there's plenty of pressure on a player like Deuce Vaughn right now. Fans are expecting him to come in and make plays, out-playing his draft status immediately. In an article on the Dallas Cowboys flagship website, there was a discussion over his potential role for the coming season:

"Yes. All jokes aside, Vaughn presents a very intriguing option for a Cowboys offense that is now designed to capitalize on the versatility of its skill players. That means while it's easy to view the rookie as an ankle-breaker in space, which will garner him targets out of the backfield and quick tosses (and the like) to iso him against linebackers, don't forget he's also capable of being a short-yardage threat due to his size. His collegiate film showed Vaughn often squeaking through the group of trees on critical third downs and on the goal line."

Patrik Walker

It's going to be up to Vaughn to take advantage of the opportunities he's given and set himself apart both on offense and perhaps also in the return game on special teams. Who knows? Maybe Vaughn will be the reason KaVontae Turpin ends up out of a job.