6 Cowboys Who Could Be Cut Before Playing a Snap

The Dallas Cowboys are trying to defend their title as NFC East division champions for the 2024 season, but they have a brutal road ahead. Not only are the Cowboys going to have tough competition from the Eagles, but they also have to battle a lot of major changes to the roster and coaching staff from the 2024 offseason.

Some of the changes could be beneficial, but looming contract situations for players like quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb certainly make it difficult for the Cowboys to fully focus on the task at hand.

Meanwhile, there are battles happening all over the roster between players jockeying for depth chart positioning or just even 53-man roster spots in general. The Cowboys -- like every NFL team -- have a lot of players who need to shine in the preseason to avoid being cut. There are a handful of players who could end up being cut before the season even begins and never get a chance to put on a Cowboys uniform.

6 Dallas Cowboys players who could be cut before the season

1. Snoop Conner, running back

Snoop Conner isn’t exactly in the most crowded position group for the Dallas Cowboys right now, but he might not have the best chance at a roster spot anyway.

Conner is a pretty incredible story having made it to the NFL with only two starts to his name at the college level at Ole Miss. Despite not being the “starter” for the Rebels, Conner was able to rack up 26 total touchdowns and average over five yards per carry.

The Jaguars scooped him up in the 5th round of the 2022 NFL Draft and the Cowboys must have had a decent grade on him because they poached him away from Jacksonville this offseason when they signed him to a reserve/futures contract. 

As of right now, the favorites to win roster spots at the Cowboys’ running back position are Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle, Royce Freeman, and Deuce Vaughn along with Hunter Luepke. Even if the Cowboys did have a high grade on Conner, he’s going to need a big preseason to make the cut.

2. Trey Lance, quarterback

Trey Lance isn’t a new acquisition to the Dallas Cowboys this offseason, but his situation is something that needs to be talked about with this team. The 2024 preseason is going to be an absolute gauntlet for the former 3rd overall pick out of North Dakota State. When the 49ers made Lance available last year, the Cowboys weren’t anywhere on the list of potential teams to try and acquire him.

And even now, their motivations for picking up Lance seem a little odd.

Is he supposed to be the heir apparent to Dak Prescott? Why didn’t Lance get on the field in any running packages last season? It seems like the Cowboys really wasted an opportunity last season with Lance but they are clearly focused on getting him as ready as possible to play the quarterback position.

Right now, Lance is going to have to beat out Cooper Rush for the backup QB position in Dallas or he could face the possibility of actually becoming a roster cut. The Cowboys need to see a glimpse of the vision in these upcoming preseason games or it’s going to be hard to justify keeping Lance at his current salary when he’s just sitting on the bench and doing nothing. 

And if Lance doesn’t show out in this year’s preseason, it will not only be bad news for his Cowboys future but his NFL future, in general.

3. Viliami Fehoko, EDGE

The 2024 offseason is shaping up to be a crucial one for former fourth-round pick Viliami Fehoko, whose chances of making the Cowboys’ roster could have potentially skyrocketed after the season-ending injury suffered by Sam Williams.

Williams’ injury will undoubtedly push 2024 second-round pick Marshawn Kneeland up the depth chart as well, but the opportunity is going to be there for Fehoko to make an impact.

Again, Fehoko isn’t a newcomer to the Cowboys in a literal sense – he was taken in the fourth round of last year’s draft – but he’s a newcomer to the team in that he didn't play at all as a rookie and, in fact, spent most of the year on injured reserve.

The former San Jose State star was outstanding at the collegiate level, racking up 43 tackles for loss and 22 sacks over his final three seasons. 

Especially now that there’s a new defensive coordinator in the building (Mike Zimmer), Fehoko is going to have to do his part to impress and make his roster spot non-negotiable in the preseason, or there’s a chance he could never take a regular season snap for the Cowboys. Especially given the team’s current need off the edge after the loss of Sam Williams, Fehoko not showing any signs of development would be a disappointment and we’d probably see him land with the Commanders if the Cowboys moved on.

4. Brevyn Spann-Ford, tight end

Through the first wave of training camp, undrafted free agent tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford has made a splash.

Unfortunately, that splash came in the form of the first big fight of training camp between him and fellow 2024 rookie Caelen Carson, a defensive back. And frankly, I don't know that Spann-Ford -- who is seven inches taller and 60 pounds heavier than Carson -- won the fight.

The Cowboys signed Spann-Ford after the 2024 NFL Draft and they landed what was believed to be one of the best pickups possible among undrafted free agent heap. And there were certainly other teams in the bidding for his services, which is a huge reason why Spann-Ford may never suit up for the Cowboys.

If the Cowboys roll with the likes of Jake Ferguson (no brainer), Luke Schoonmaker (no brainer), and Peyton Hendershot, there’s a decent chance Spann-Ford could be headed to the waiver wire. The Cowboys can try to sneak him through waivers at the end of the preseason, but there are probably going to be too many teams that had draftable grades on him and simply couldn’t get their hands on him.

And depending on what Spann-Ford was promised beyond just the guaranteed money financially when he signed with the Cowboys, he could see hitting waivers as a sign that the team isn’t going to make good on a roster promise or something like that.

That’s purely speculation at this point, but you never know.

Spann-Ford could even stick it to the Cowboys and parlay a strong preseason into an opportunity at playing time elsewhere. The Cowboys need to make sure they arrive at the right 53 players on the roster and they can’t let good players like this get away.

5. Emany Johnson/Julius Wood, safety

If there’s one position defensively that the Dallas Cowboys are overloaded right now, it’s at the safety position.

The Cowboys have not only a strong starting duo in Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker – two guys they have under contract for the next couple of years – but they also have a couple of studs in Juanyeh Thomas and Markquese Bell. And behind those guys is Israel Mukuamu, who could end up being one of the toughest cuts on the team depending on how the Cowboys decide to do some roster gymnastics in the coming weeks.

There isn’t much room on this roster right now for undrafted free agent safeties, even though that’s been sort of a hallmark for the Cowboys. Emany Johnson and Julius Wood are both going to get a chance to compete in the preseason, but they are probably the longest of roster longshots at this point.

And even if they show out in the preseason, we may never see them take a snap with the Cowboys. Emany Johnson is going to be one of the top stories of the preseason for the Cowboys and the former Nevada star has some outstanding qualities outlined in this report by Ben Larimore of Cowboys Wire:

“Johnson brings physicality and quality tackling in run support to the safety room, a core principle of Cowboys’ defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s defense and a big area of improvement for the 2024 Dallas Cowboys."

Ben Larimore, Cowboys Wire

Either of these players could parlay a big preseason into a golden opportunity outside of Dallas thanks to the team’s depth at safety.

6. Ryan Flournoy, wide receiver

The Dallas Cowboys might have a late-round gem at the wide receiver in sixth-round pick Ryan Flournoy. After he was drafted, Patrik Walker of the Cowboys’ official site broke down his game a little bit:

“Flournoy is a big, physical receiver whose goal is to often outmuscle and outjump defensive backs en route to making some phenomenal contested catches. Simply put, he is literally one of the best athletes in the entire (not just Dallas') draft class, and his 9.88 grade on the Relative Athletic Scale of 1-10 proves it. He's strong, fast, quick and has the wingspan and catch radius to give cornerbacks nightmares.”

Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com

It seems as though the Cowboys’ philosophy in the NFL Draft is just to always throw at least one or two darts at the wide receiver position. That’s something Mike McCarthy has typically done dating back to his time with the Green Bay Packers.

And this is a position group where the Cowboys would probably love a late-round steal to emerge for the team. They’ve been seeking a viable secondary option for the long-term opposite CeeDee Lamb since they (foolishly) traded Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns.

But Ryan Flournoy may never take a snap for the Dallas Cowboys, and it may not have anything to do with his abilities. The Cowboys don’t have the most “loaded” receiver room in the NFL, but it’s got some good players and young guys the team is already invested in. Can Flournoy beat out players like Jalen Brooks? Tyron Billy-Johnson? David Durden? 

If he can’t, his time with the Cowboys could be short.

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