Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
The Dallas Cowboys have announced their first round of cuts, and I have to say I am not that surprised. Along with cutting nine players, the Cowboys placed two players, Tyrone Crawford and Ryan Cook, on injured reserve, and sent Jay Ratliff to the PUP list.
There weren’t really any surprises with this first round of cuts. The Cowboys cut quarterback Nick Stephens, which I expected would happen. The Cowboys are set at the quarterback position, as Tony Romo just signed a hefty contract extension, which will make him the Cowboys starting quarterback for probably the rest of his career, and Kyle Orton is considered a top-tier back up in this league. With Stephens getting released, the Cowboys have one other quarterback, Alex Tanney, on the roster. I think Tanny is making a strong case to be the Cowboys’ practice squad quarterback.
The Cowboys also trimmed their receiving corp. down, by releasing Anthony Amos, Eric Rogers and Jared Green. The Cowboys already have extremely talented receivers on this team. I think we are going to see a few more cut from this position with the next round of cuts. Look for the Cowboys to keep about six receivers on this year’s roster.
Tight end Colin Cochart was also sent packing today. With the Cowboys expected to use much more “12 personnel” sets, they are going to keep four tight ends on this roster, and I think they already have an idea of which four are going to make this year’s team. I’m expecting to see Jason Witten, James Hanna, Dante Rosario and Gavin Escobar at tight end this year.
The Cowboys need to get a better picture of their offensive line depth, and they made the first step today with the release of offensive guard, Dennis Godfrey. With so many injuries to this line last season and this preseason, they better find quality depth to fill in when a starter goes down.
The defensive also got a little thinner on Tuesday, with the release of cornerback Brandon Underwood and linebacker Deon Lacey. Again, none of these cuts were really surprising, but with the final cuts quickly approaching, I’m sure there will be at least one surprise.
Pete Osmolia is a Dallas Cowboys writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @posmolia and like him on Facebook
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