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Not all teams are waiting until the last minute to make their cuts to the league-mandated 53-man roster.
The Cowboys traditionally finalize their cut list immediately following the last preseason game; it just takes a while for the names of the cut players to trickle through, and an official announcement usually isn't forthcoming until very close to the roster cut deadline.
And it looks like linebacker Derek Akunne is one of the first names to trickle though. His agent reported Akunne's release earlier today via Twitter.
Cowboys are releasing client Derek Akunne. @Akunnematata . Had a tremendous preseason
— DEC Management (@davidcanter) September 2, 2016
The North Texas product initially signed with Atlanta in May, 2015, as a rookie free agent, but was waived at the end of training camp. He was subsequently signed to Dallas’ practice squad in December 2015.
Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News reports that DE Ryan Russell has also been released. A source confirmed the release after Russell's somewhat cryptic Instagram message.
By 4:00 PM EST on Saturday, all NFL teams must be down to their 53-man roster. The Dallas Cowboys are no exception. We'll be tracking their cuts as we receive them and posting them here.