Dallas once again impressed in their second preseason game, headlined by a strong showing from Joe Milton. Milton may have cemented himself as the QB2 heading into the season, while names like Camden Brown and Jonathan Mingo are making the WR decision even more difficult. With football inching closer, the final 53-man roster is looking a little clearer.
A look at the news.
4 winners and 1 loser from Cowboys’ preseason rout of the Cardinals – Marcus Mosher, The Landry Hat
The Cowboys’ backup units looked good on Saturday night, and there are a lot of positives to take away from this game. Dallas now
has a decent idea of who their QB2 will be, and both Camden Brown and Jonathan Mingo look poised to make the final 53-man roster.
Winner: Joe Milton – QB
Milton got the start in Week 2 after backing up Sam Howell in Week 1, as the two have been in a quarterback battle all camp. While we can’t say for sure that Milton won the job on Saturday, it sure feels like he is in pole position.
Updated Dallas Cowboys 53-Man Roster Prediction – Mark Heaney, Inside The Star
Cuts are on the horizon, and there are a decent number of roster spots still up in the air. While most may have an idea of the hierarchy of the names at each position, it will all come down to the depth Dallas chooses to keep at the various spots.
6 WRs: CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Ryan Flournoy, KaVontae Turpin, Jonathan Mingo, Camden Brown.
– In the wide receiver room, Mingo and UDFA Camden Brown have forced Dallas’s hand: they must go heavy at WR on the 53-man roster to keep both players.
2nd preseason game snap counts reveal Cowboys plans for roster cutdown – Todd Brock, Cowboys Wire
Snap counts, especially in the second preseason game, tend to be very telling. Players like Drew Shelton, Jaydon Blue, and Jaishwan Barham got the opportunity to impress Saturday night.
On defense, rookie Jaishawn Barham finally took the field, logging over a third of the unit’s snaps and looking good doing it. Cornerback Devin Moore also made his Cowboys debut with 20 snaps and was targeted early by the Arizona passing attack (notably beaten once by former Cowboys WR Simi Fehoko).
Top 4 Dallas Cowboys Trade Candidates Entering Preseason Week 3 – Randy Gurzi, Sports Illustrated
Dallas has room to make a few splash moves if they choose, and they have the talent to make a trade. Shipping a player like Liufau or Mingo for a backup offensive lineman could add safety.
Marist Liufau, EDGE
As soon as the Cowboys added Von Miller, Marist Liufau’s spot on the roster became incredibly shaky. That’s why Cowboys On SI’s Josh Sanchez named Liufau the most obvious trade candidate following the Miller signing.
Mailbag: Will the run defense be improved?- Patrik Walker & Tommy Yarrish, DallasCowboys.com
Granted, there was not a lot of positives for the Cowboys defense in 2025, but the run defense was especially porous. If Dallas is expecting improvement under Christian Parker, it starts with stopping the run.
A full offseason of work together for Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark is going to be big. I think that already in training camp we’ve seen the two of them contribute to making it very difficult to run on the Cowboys when they’re on the field together, although training camp practices and joint practices can be tricky to test just how good a team can run the ball/stop the run.
Daily discussion question: Which defensive rookie are you most excited about? Downs or Barham?
