Dallas Cowboys’ roster building: Someone must lose

For the Dallas Cowboys, building a 53-man roster is a zero sum game. For every position group that wins, a different position group must lose.

The Dallas Cowboys use the training camp and preseason games to assess their team’s talent. They use that assessment to cut the roster down from 90 players to 53 players. 53 may sound like a lot but once you start building positional depth charts you quickly realize some very talented players are going to be left on the outside looking in.

On a team like the Dallas Cowboys, some of your favorites are going to miss the cut. And to make matters worse, those players are likely to find a job elsewhere. But it’s a reality we must all accept. The Cowboys are going to cut players you and I like. Heck, they’re going to cut players they like.

If you’re lobbying hard to go long at one position, where are you prepared to go short? Better yet, do you know the name of the player you are going to bump off?

It only takes a few minutes of scouring through the blogosphere to realize everyone wants to go long in a certain position group but nobody wants to go short. In the immortal words of Wall Street’s Gordon Gekko:

"“It’s not a question of enough, pal. It’s a zero sum game — somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn’t lost or made, it’s simply transferred from one perception to another.”"

I’d be remiss if I didn’t call Gordon Gekko out for labeling the free market a zero sum game. Money and wealth IS created through specialization, efficiency, innovation, and global trade. But unlike the marketplace, his lesson translates perfectly to NFL roster building.

If the Cowboys go long at a certain position group they will need to go short at a different position unit. It’s easy to find the position groups that Dallas could go long in but so easy to identify where they go short. That’s especially true when you build a depth chart.

Take the receivers for example:

The Dallas Cowboys appear to be stacked at receiver. Dallas has Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley, Ryan Switzer, and Brice Butler locking down the top five spots. Since five is traditionally all the Cowboys keep — its case closed, right?

Not so fast.

Andy Jones has been turning heads all camp and appears to have future in the NFL. And as discussed last week, Noah Brown has been playing himself onto an NFL roster as well. Both are unlikely to make it to the Cowboys’ practice squad should they be cut. Keeping a sixth would require the Cowboys to go short elsewhere. Where should they go short?

Related Story: What to do with Noah Brown?

Can they go with only five linebackers? Sean Lee, Jaylon Smith, Anthony Hitchens, and Damien Wilson are probably locks. Kyle Wilber is also probably a sure thing given his special teams play and position flex. But what about Justin Durant? Can they keep him until the suspended players come back? But are you also content cutting Mark Nzeocha in order to go deep at receiver?

It’s unlikely in week one the Cowboys promote Cooper Rush to QB2 and cut Kellen Moore altogether. Do they keep three QBs on the roster knowing Rush won’t make it to the practice squad?

Who are you going to sacrifice to make that happen?

The Cowboys could go thin at cornerback, I suppose. But they have to keep Nolan Carroll, Orlando Scandrick, Chidobe Awuzie, Anthony Brown, and Jourdan Lewis. That’s five right there and that’s cutting promising young player Marquez White. Ouch. Not so easy, right?

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Everyone wants to do deep at RB until Zeke gets back. That makes sense too because they can just cut the extra player once Zeke is added to the active roster.

But what about tight end? Most are expecting the Cowboys to go deep there, bringing the TE total to four. Where are they going to go short to cover that? It’s a zero sum game, remember?

It’s still anyone’s guess how the cards fall for the offensive and defensive lines. What’s clear is the Cowboys can’t go long on the lines AND go long at the skill positions. Someone must be sacrificed to make room for someone else.

Grace Period

The coming suspensions for Ezekiel Ellliott (6 games), Damontre Moore ( 2 games), and David Irving (4 games) buy the Dallas Cowboys a slight grace period to make some of these tough decisions. Suspended players don’t count against the roster and if Damien Wilson and Nolan Carroll get suspended before the season starts (which is a distinct possibility), Dallas could have up to five temporary roster spots early in the season.

Eventually, those tough decisions must be made. And if the Cowboys go long on some positions, they must go short at another position. Stay tuned, tomorrow morning will be my second and final prediction for the regular season 53-man roster.

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Next: How Ryan Switzer can replace Zeke and the running game

Building an NFL roster is zero sum game. If someone wins, someone loses. The Dallas Cowboys have a handful of players worthy of making the team and forcing an extended depth chart, but they come at a cost.