Every year we overrate the idea of teams stealing a player the Cowboys cut

We have reached the point in training camp and the preseason where our attention has turned to figuring out what the Dallas Cowboys 53-man roster will look like as they enter the regular season. We’ve spent the last month tracking as many practice reps as possible, and stewing over preseason games to get a glimpse of our pet cats, and potential depth chart risers to try and piece together the plans for the roster.

The truth for this Cowboys team is that the cut downs are going to be tough. There are going to be players waived from this team that will generate big reactions from fans and media on twitter.

But for a team with championship aspirations, this is the reality.

One of the reactions you’ll hear as you discuss some of these difficult potential moves, particularly with promising young players is that “there’s no way that guy gets through waivers and gets to the practice squad.”

Exciting players like Isaiah Land, Hunter Leopke, T.J. Bass, Jalen Brooks, Marquese Bell, and Juanyeh Thomas are all players who could fall victim to the outrageous levels of depth the Cowboys possess across the board. But as fans, before we panic about the idea of the Cowboys carrying only three running backs, or nine offensive linemen, we need to remember, that pretty much every team in the NFL has a young running back, offensive lineman, safety, etc. that they really like.

Those guys may or may not develop, because that’s the NFL, but teams drafted or signed their guys, and have spent months investing in their development, and whether the guys the Cowboys have are better than those guys or not, teams will almost always hang onto their own.

For example, on Aug. 30 2022, the day of the final cut downs from 80-man to 53-man rosters, over 850 players became available, and a total of 33 were claimed off of waivers across the entire league, the year before that only 27 claims were made.

We make a big deal of these bottom of the depth chart decisions, and it’s possible the Cowboys could lose an intriguing young developmental player, but most likely, they’ll all wind up back on the Cowboys practice squad, and by the time we reach Week 4 of the regular season, those guys will be far from our minds as we watch the superstars on the field make big plays.