Cowboys roster moves: Team moves on from veteran tight end Jeremy Sprinkle in cuts to 80

Tuesday is a significant day in the NFL as teams continue to move forward to the regular season. A week ago marked a mandatory roster trimming from 90 to 85 players, while today requires moving on from five more to get down to 80. Final 53-man rosters will need to be set a week from today.

Part of what makes today a bit unique is that it is the first day in which NFL teams can place players on the Reserve/PUP list. This is, of course, one avenue to create a roster spot that teams can explore, looking across the division the Washington Commanders went that route with defensive end Chase Young.

This is a difficult choice though as players who are placed on the Reserve/PUP list must sit out at least the first four games of the season. Using the Young example, he will miss his team’s Week 4 game against the Cowboys which is a consequential thing (Young will also miss a matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles).

Dallas has this choice to make with wide receiver Michael Gallup at present time. Gallup tore his ACL on January 2nd and received a brand new contract from the team over the offseason, but he has already said that he will miss the season opener which sparked the idea that the team could choose to give him the Reserve/PUP designation.

The Dallas Cowboys have made their roster moves and are now down to 80 players

Ultimately, the Cowboys chose not to make any adjustment with Michael Gallup. Their first roster move was to waive kicker Lirim Hajrullahu, but the other four shortly followed.

Nothing listed here is all too surprising. The first wave of roster cuts saw Ty Fryfogle’s departure and this week brings another wide receiver in Jaquarii Roberson. On the other side of the ball Quandre Mosely and Christian Sam were both released which makes sense given what the Cowboys have seen at all three positions (receiver, corner, linebacker). They like their starting options clearly and have found role players at every spot throughout camp and the preseason.

Christian Sam barely joined the Cowboys right before camp but he has received the injury designation. Perhaps the most notable name here is veteran tight end Jeremy Sprinkle who was also given an injury designation, but that clearly opens the door for Peyton Hendershot to be the team’s fourth tight end behind Dalton Schultz, Sean McKeon, and Jake Ferguson.

As noted, the Cowboys roster now sits at 80 players and they have a few obvious things that they are going to do when it comes time to say goodbye to 27 more names. It is important to also consider all of the roster gymnastics that will have to be done to get players into their appropriate places and designations so the team may very well wind up initially “cutting” someone who they have every intention of being on the team.