The Cowboys roster is going to look very different when the draft is over.
Earlier this offseason, we examined players who could be moved off the roster following what happens during the draft. The Cowboys have ten draft picks, which is plenty of ammunition to address holes on the roster after the initial wave of free agency. Since then, things have changed, and the team has made a few additional transactions. As we get closer to the draft, the picture of the team’s direction once they’re on the clock is clearer. With just over a week until the draft, here are three more players that could be on the bubble following the draft.
Miles Sanders
After signing a free agent contract with the Carolina Panthers (four-years, $25.4M in 2023), Miles Sanders disappointed in Carolina and ceded the role as the lead back to others like Chuba Hubbard and D’Onta Foreman. The spark he provided for the Philadelphia Eagles offense en route to a Pro Bowl nod in 2022 has fizzled out. Since leaving Philadelphia, Sanders has averaged far below four yards an attempt and has not eclipsed 500 rushing yards. Dallas also added Javonte Williams to their backfield, and his contract is substantially larger than that of Sanders, with Sanders having a modest $167.5K signing bonus for a veteran.
When you read the room, it’s apparent why Sanders could be on the chopping block. The Cowboys have hosted several running back talents in the top two rounds of the draft for visits, which indicates their dissatisfaction with the running back personnel on the roster. You get the growing sense that Dallas could draft multiple running backs.
Ryan Flournoy
Dallas is rumored to be interested in wide receiver and looks primed to take one early should they skip out on running back in the first round. If so, Ryan Flournoy is no better than the fourth receiver in terms of priority on the depth chart. CeeDee Lamb is atop the pecking order. Jalen Tolbert is the team’s number two receiver and has more skins on the wall than Flournoy, albeit minimal, and KaVontae Turpin, with a new contract, has to figure into more of the team’s plans at receiver as well. Adding a top 64 top wide receiver in the mix would push Flournoy further down the depth chart.
That means Flournoy would have to stave off players vying to be the fifth wide receiver, such as Jonathan Mingo, Jalen Brooks, and Parris Campbell. Heavily complicating things for Flournoy is that the Cowboys traded a fourth-round pick for Mingo in this year’s draft. It means something significant for a team like the Cowboys that treats draft picks like gold. Flournoy needs to have himself a big camp and preseason, or he risks being cut from the team sometime this summer.
Matt Waletzko
Matt Waletzko finds himself on the roster bubble because he hasn’t done enough to make a lasting impact on the team. When Waletzko was drafted in the fifth round of 2022, it was initially thought that Dallas had stumbled on a possible starter down the road and, at worst, a key rotational player. Unfortunately, Waletzko has been neither. Injuries have limited his availability, and Waletzko has only appeared in 11 games over his three-year career. Waletzko ended his first two seasons on injured reserve.
The Cowboys suffered a rash of injuries to the offensive line last season it seemed that Asim Richards, a 2023 fifth-round pick, had elevated himself above Waletzko on the depth chart. The Cowboys aren’t finished. With the departure of Zack Martin to retirement earlier this offseason, the offensive line will surely be an area of focus for the Cowboys. Dallas has met with three offensive linemen expected to be drafted in the middle rounds, making it harder to envision Waletzko having a firm hold on his roster spot. When he took the field recently, Waletzko didn’t perform well. If he can’t make an impression on new offensive coordinator Klayton Adams, who excels with offensive linemen, Waletzko could be on the chopping block.
