And Then There Were 53...

Today, Dallas' roster was cut from 80 to 53... most cuts were expected but there were a few that were a little bit surprising...

Some players who got cut that I didn't think would:

- Chris Gronkowski (I'm betting this was a request from Romo to Garrett... maybe a little karma for causing his broken collarbone.)

- Akwasi Owusu-Ansah (I didn't think he did horrible last year but I guess when Abram Elam was signed, it pretty much sealed Akwasi's fate.)

- Brandon Williams (I wouldn't say he was a draft bust, but he never really showed his true potential when he had the opportunities and he was just plain ol' expendable.)

- Igor Olshansky (perhaps the biggest shock cut in my opinion, Olshansky played good the last two years but I guess he was nothing spectacular.)


The 53:

QB (No real surprises here.)
- Tony Romo
- Jon Kitna
- Stephen McGee

RB (They really liked what they saw with both Murray and Tanner and it has paid off, I didn't expect them to carry four Runningbacks but there it is.)
- Felix Jones
- Tashard Choice
- DeMarco Murray
- Phillip Tanner

WR (Again, no real surprises... also to note, Raymond Radway was placed on IR for the season due to the injury (broken leg) he received in the final preseason game.)
- Miles Austin
- Dez Bryant
- Kevin Ogletree
- Jesse Holley
- Dwayne Harris

TE (With Bennett out for possibly the first month of the regular season, it made sense to keep all four of these Tight Ends.)
- Jason Witten
- Martellus Bennett (injured)
- John Phillips
- Martin Rucker

OL (The Offensive Line is being totally rebuilt, with Columbo, Davis and Gurode gone, they will need as many O-Linemen as possible and hopefully the experienced players step up and teach the noobs well.)
- Kyle Kosier
- Phil Costa
- Doug Free
- Tyron Smith
- Bill Nagy
- Montrae Holland
- David Arkin
- Kevin Kowalski
- Sam Young
- Jeremy Parnell

DL (Sounds about right to me... not sure how well Clifton Geathers plays but if he made the 53, he got someone's attention.)
- Jay Ratliff
- Marcus Spears
- Jason Hatcher
- Sean Lissemore
- Josh Brent
- Kenyon Coleman
- Clifton Geathers

LB (again, this squad comes back fully in tact from last year, with Alex Albright being the addition.)
- DeMarcus Ware
- Anthony Spencer
- Victor Butler
- Bradie James
- Sean Lee
- Keith Brooking
- Alex Albright

S (I like Sensabaugh and Elam is a nice addition to the Safety spot.)
- Gerald Sensabaugh
- Abram Elam
- Barry Church
- Danny McCray

CB (Ball and McCann are pretty much interchangeable as Safety's so they should be OK as the backup deep field guys.)
- Terence Newman
- Orlando Scandrick
- Mike Jenkins
- Alan Ball
- Bryan McCann

K (I don't like that we don't have a dedicated kicker for kickoffs and field goals/extra points, this roster spot could be given to someone of greater value. It is expected that Buehler will be kickoffs and Bailey will handle field goals...sigh.)
- David Buehler
- Dan Bailey

P (Shocker!)
- Mat McBriar

LS (Who else but LP to be the LS...word.)
- LP Ladouceur


In Other NFL Cut News:

Some other notable cuts from around the league include:

- Brandon Meriweather (S) from NE
- Chester Taylor (RB) from CHI
- Desmond Clark (TE) from CHI
- Larry Johnson (RB) from MIA

Dallas should actively pursue Meriweather if they can... with Sensabaugh, Elam, Church and Meriweather... they would be very strong in the secondary. Also related to the Cowboys, Chester Taylor being cut by Chicago... they have a lot of faith in Barber and I like Barber a lot so I wish him luck.) Clark and Johnson were not what they once had been, so I guess it just felt right to cut the baggage.

Well, that's pretty much it for now... Thursday will bring the official start of the season as New Orleans battles Green Bay in the Kickoff Game.