The Dallas Cowboys announced the five players cut from the potential 53-man team today in the first of three rounds of roster reductions due before the start of the season. The team will carry 85 players into this weekend’s preseason contest against the visiting Houston Texans.
Two of the moves by the Cowboys placed players on injured reserve. NFL rules dictate that players on IR during training camp are not eligible to play for that team during the upcoming season. The team and the player have several options to end contracts, allowing the player the opportunity to be claimed or sign with another team.
Cornerback Reggie Robinson, a 2020 fourth-round pick by Dallas was placed on IR with a toe injury. Sewo Olonilua was placed on IR as well. Olonilua, the only true fullback on the roster, suffered a serious neck injury in the first preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and is expected to miss significant playing time.
Anthony Hines III, an undrafted free agent from Texas A&M who went to high school in Plano was waived/injured. This designation gives Hines the option to potentially sign with another team or be claimed on waivers and play in 2021 if he can clear a physical.
The Cowboys waived cornerback Kyron Brown who was signed to the training camp roster on July 25. Brown was a 2019 draft pick by the New York Jets. He played in four games and started one game before suffering a season-ending quad injury. He was on the Jets PUP/Injured list last season and was cut from the Jets roster in May.
It was also the end of the road for Brennan Eagles, an undrafted free agent wide receiver who skipped his senior year at Texas to enter the draft. He signed with the Cowboys after being passed on by all 32 teams in the NFL. Eagles caught one pass on one target in the Hall of Fame game late in the fourth quarter. His one reception went for 25 yards.
Brown and Eagles are both eligible to be claimed on waivers by another team. Should they not be claimed, both players will become free agents. Both players stand a good chance of ending up on a practice squad somewhere.
The Cowboys will have nine cornerbacks on the training camp roster going into the next game. Starting positions are locked up, barring injury to Trevon Diggs or Anthony Brown. The wide receiver corps is even larger with 13 players remaining on the roster for now.
Changes to the preseason schedule and the agreement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association allow teams to gradually trim their roster this season unlike previous years. Teams will reduce to 80 players next Tuesday before making the final roster cuts the Tuesday after the final preseason game.
