FRISCO, Texas – The Cowboys and the other 31 teams across the NFL cut their rosters down to 53 players on Tuesday ahead of the 2025 regular season.
It’s one of the most difficult days of the year for teams, coaches and players alike, as thousands of players around the league end up being waived or released, although some can return to a practice squad if invited.
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer is going through the process for the first time as a head coach. A man who takes building relationships with his players seriously, it was not an easy process.
“It was hard to sit down in front of those guys and be honest and tell them the why, tell them the things they do well, tell them the areas that they can improve,” Schottenheimer said. “I think that’s important because anytime you have those hard conversations, whether they’re back or not back… they hopefully can use a thing that they’re given the feedback about to improve themselves as a player.”
After conversations with Schottenheimer himself, the coordinator and position coach, players get the news that they’re either on the roster or not. The process isn’t over yet though, the Cowboys hope that some players they let go today are able to return to the practice squad.
One of the players who was informed he’d be on the 53-man roster was defensive tackle Mazi Smith, the Cowboys’ first round pick in 2023. Heading into his third season, Smith has had an up and down start to his professional career in Dallas, and Schottenheimer let him know that just because he was drafted early doesn’t mean he should get comfortable.
“It doesn’t matter that you’re a first-round pick,” Schottenheimer said of what he called a “great” conversation he held with Smith. “We want to see you be more consistent. We know what you’re capable of. That’s one of the things that’s really important to me, is to find time to have conversations because I think it matters.”
Further down the defensive line, Schottenheimer had been effusive in his praise for defensive end James Houston, who the Cowboys signed on the first day of training camp.
What was initially looked at as a depth addition turned into a spot on the 53-man roster for Houston, who dominated in Oxnard and the preseason to earn himself a role.
“The ability to rush the passer is such an important part of our game, and James has been pretty much unblockable in most competitive padded situations we’ve been in whether it’s scrimmages, preseason games, our padded practices, and that jumps out at you.” Schottenheimer said.
In the secondary, undrafted free agent defensive back Zion Childress slowly but surely rose up the depth chart in Oxnard and made plays against other teams during the preseason. It was good enough for the Cowboys to trust him in the nickel cornerback spot on defense, potentially in their season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles should Trevon Diggs not play.
“Zion’s a good, young player that has flashed,” Schottenheimer said. “He got a lot of work with the ones during different things when we were moving pieces around and trying different things, and he never shied away… He never took a step back when he was put into the starting rotation.”
Speaking of rotations, the Cowboys very well may be doing that in their running back room. Schottenheimer has said in the past that the run game is a collective effort whether you have a bell cow or not and is a fan of the mixture that the room has.
“I think it’s a cool room because you’ve got the veterans in Miles and Javonte, you’ve got Hunter who is becoming a veteran, and then you have the two rookies that we drafted,” Schottenheimer said. “I think we’ve seen the things that we want to see from them.”
Narrowing down the roster always brings up tough decisions for a coaching staff. Among those this year for Schottenheimer and the Cowboys was the last wide receiver they took.
Ryan Flournoy ended up prevailing over Jalen Brooks after a long back-and-forth deliberation, and Schottenheimer credited it to what Flournoy has been able to contribute on special teams as a gunner.
“Over the past two or three weeks, I would say there’s been no one that has played special teams more dominant than Ryan Flournoy,” Schottenheimer said. “As a gunner he’s been unstoppable… and he’s done a really good job playing receiver with contested catches versus press release.”
The Cowboys front office and Schottenheimer have called the talent acquisition process one that is always ongoing, and with the waiver wire still open tomorrow, the roster still isn’t set in stone and is subject to change.
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