3 dueling Cowboys roster projections highlight contested roster spots

Over the last seven months, the Cowboys have been slowly building their depth chart for the 2026 season. Draft versions of that depth chart informed the Cowboys’ actions in free agency, helped drive decisions during the draft, and were used to drive further roster additions since the draft.

More recently, that interim depth chart has been updated with notes and observations from rookie minicamp, OTAs, and mandatory minicamp, and will continue to be refined over the course of training camp until the ‘final’

53-man roster is revealed ahead of the season opener.

We’re going to do a similar exercise today and take a look at what the Cowboys’ final 53-man roster could look like based on what (little) we’ve seen so far prior to training camp and preseason games. To do that, we’re going to look at three separate projections. One from Jon Machota of The Athletic who jumped the gun with his projection in mid May, one from Joe Hoyt from of the Dallas Morning News from this week, and a third one from Todd Archer of ESPN, also published this week. These three projections should give us a good idea of where public sentiment currently stands regarding the 2026 Cowboys roster.

I’ve combined all three projections in the table below. The table highlights (in yellow) the spots that do not yet appear to be locked down.

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	Hoyt DMN	Archer ESPN	Machota Athletic
Quarterbacks	Dak Prescott	Dak Prescott	Dak Prescott
	Sam Howell	Sam Howell
	Joe Milton		Joe Milton
Running Backs	Javonte Williams	Javonte Williams	Javonte Williams
	Hunter Luepke	Hunter Luepke	Hunter Luepke
	Jaydon Blue	Jaydon Blue	Jaydon Blue
	Phil Mafah	Phil Mafah
	Malik Davis
Wide Receivers	CeeDee Lamb	CeeDee Lamb	CeeDee Lamb
	George Pickens	George Pickens	George Pickens
	Ryan Flournoy	Ryan Flournoy	Ryan Flournoy
	KaVontae Turpin	KaVontae Turpin	KaVontae Turpin
	Traeshon Holden	Anthony Smith	Jonathan Mingo
		Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Tight Ends	Jake Ferguson	Jake Ferguson	Jake Ferguson
	Brevyn Spann-Ford	Brevyn Spann-Ford	Brevyn Spann-Ford
	Luke Schoonmaker	Luke Schoonmaker	Luke Schoonmaker
			Michael Trigg
Offensive Line	Tyler Guyton	Tyler Guyton	Tyler Guyton
	Tyler Smith	Tyler Smith	Tyler Smith
	Cooper Beebe	Cooper Beebe	Cooper Beebe
	Tyler Booker	Tyler Booker	Tyler Booker
	Terence Steele	Terence Steele	Terence Steele
	TJ Bass	TJ Bass	TJ Bass
	Nate Thomas	Nate Thomas	Nate Thomas
	Drew Shelton	Drew Shelton	Drew Shelton
	Trevor Keegan	Trevor Keegan	Trevor Keegan
			Ajani Cornelius

No real surprises on offense, the question marks are pretty much about depth.

• Do the Cowboys keep one or two backup quarterbacks? Sam Howell has the experience, Joe Milton has the athletic upside. The preseason games could well sort out this roster battle.
• Who exactly is competing for the backup RB spots? Jaydon Blue makes all three projections, but it may come down to him, Phil Mafah, or Malik Davis.
• The top four wide receivers seem to be set, anything beyond that is pure guesswork right now.
• Three or four tight ends? Michael Trigg got some early hype, can he deliver in camp?

Maybe there are more contested spots on defense?

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	Hoyt DMN	Archer ESPN	Machota Athletic
Edge rushers	Rashan Gary	Rashan Gary	Rashan Gary
	Donovan Ezeiruaku	Donovan Ezeiruaku	Donovan Ezeiruaku
	Malachi Lawrence	Malachi Lawrence	Malachi Lawrence
	Sam Williams	Sam Williams	Sam Williams
	James Houston	Marist Liufau	James Houston
		Tyrus Wheat	Tyrus Wheat
Defensive Tackles	Quinnen Williams	Quinnen Williams	Quinnen Williams
	Kenny Clark	Kenny Clark	Kenny Clark
	Jonathan Bullard	Jonathan Bullard	Jonathan Bullard
	LT Overton	LT Overton	LT Overton
	Otito Ogbonnia	Otito Ogbonnia	Otito Ogbonnia
Linebackers	DeMarvion Overshown	DeMarvion Overshown	DeMarvion Overshown
	Dee Winters	Dee Winters	Dee Winters
	Jaishawn Barham	Jaishawn Barham	Jaishawn Barham
	Shemar James	Shemar James	Shemar James
	Curtis Robinson	Curtis Robinson	Justin Barron
Cornerbacks	Daron Bland	Daron Bland	Daron Bland
	Shavon Revel	Shavon Revel	Shavon Revel
	Cobie Durant	Cobie Durant	Cobie Durant
	Devin Moore	Devin Moore	Devin Moore
	Derion Kendrick	Derion Kendrick	Derion Kendrick
	Caelon Carson	Caelon Carson	Trikweze Bridges
Safeties	Caleb Downs	Caleb Downs	Caleb Downs
	Jalen Thompson	Jalen Thompson	Jalen Thompson
	Malik Hooker	Malik Hooker	Malik Hooker
	PJ Locke	PJ Locke	PJ Locke
Specialists	Brandon Aubrey (K)	Brandon Aubrey (K)	Brandon Aubrey (K)
	Bran Anger (P)	Bran Anger (P)	Bran Anger (P)
	Trent Sieg (LS)	Trent Sieg (LS)	Trent Sieg (LS)

Looks like there’s even less competition on defense for roster spots.

• Some competition for the fifth and potentially sixth edge rusher spot.
• Can Justin Barron beat out free agent acquisition Curtis Robinson at linebacker?
• Caelon Carson and Trikweze Bridges look to be competing for the last cornerback spot.

As far as projections go, these three have probably summarized the general sentiment about the roster pretty well at this point of the offseason.

Suspensions (knock on wood), trades, injuries (knock on wood three times), and other things of that nature (knock on wood vigorously) tend to disrupt these projections. But that’s also where depth guys then get to step up and seize their opportunity.

What’s your take on the three projections above, and where do you think they got it wrong?