Dallas Cowboys 53-Man Roster: Don't Like It? Change It!

As soon as cuts rolled in, the first thing I wanted to do was update the roster builder. And I did.

But then I realized that, now that the 53-man roster is set, there isn't a whole lot of fun in re-doing the cuts, even with the benefit of hindsight. Most fans simply weren't too upset with most of the cuts - save perhaps for Brandon Magee being swiped by the Browns.

As it turns out, the greatest desire for many fans of the Cowboys is to have them pick up players that they may have followed closely elsewhere in the league, or in college, that were recently waived. Unfortunately, the roster builder never allowed for the addition of players that hadn't at one point been on a Cowboys' roster.

That's been changed.

Beginning now, the roster builder supports the addition of any player, real or imaginary, to the Cowboys' roster, at the click of a button. Simply provide the player's name and number of years in the league, and the roster builder will add him to the program and automatically sign him to a vet-minimum deal commensurate with his experience.

I'll also take this opportunity to review the roster builder controls.

To begin, click the button at the bottom of this article to launch the builder in a separate window. The builder will not function if the window that it was launched from (this one) does not also remain open. All of the code is here in the article. Similarly, the roster builder itself cannot be bookmarked - bookmark the article containing it, instead.

Once open, click 'Reset Everything' to populate the roster table. To view your cuts, click the 'Show Cuts' button on the left side of the screen; the hide cuts button will similarly hide that list.

Select any player to view his information panel on the right of the screen. With a player selected, click on the large red button at the bottom right to cut that player. Alternatively, press the 'delete' or 'x' keys on your keyboard to cut the player.

With a player selected, click on any position (ie, 'QB') to move the player to that position; this is how you 'undo' a cut, and is necessary to use generated players. You can also use this functionality to change players' positions to your liking (making Danny Coale a punter, for example) as well as edit the various injured and reserve lists.

If you have any question about this software, how to use it, how it was made, or anything else, I'm happy to answer; just ask.

As always, share the rosters you come up with in the comment sections, as fanshots, or, with some explanation and analysis, as fanposts! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Dallas Cowboys Interactive Roster Builder