With two preseason matchups in the books, Brian Schottenheimer has only days left to sort through the Cowboys’ roster puzzle. His comments on Monday suggested that the final cutdown could bring more than a few surprises, as players currently flying under the radar push their way onto the 53 while others could be pushed out.

“We’re still in the information gathering process. We’ll sit down after we play Friday and we’ll make some decisions about the entire roster. There will probably be some surprises from some of the mock things that are out there in terms of, ‘Hey, I thought for sure this guy was gonna make it.'”

Schottenheimer’s roster-building is not done in the conventional manner. Rather than sticking to positional limits, he’s opting for flexibility by player performance and team requirements. “It’s year by year,” Brian Schottenheimer mentioned. “You’ve got general numbers when you’re looking at things. Is it five, is it six receivers, is it five linebackers, how many defensive linemen combined? Those conversations have been ongoing throughout the entire training camp process.” This is his way of saying he’ll adapt based on what players show during these evaluation periods. The most dominant preseason narratives are the wide receiver and running back competitions, enhanced by the departures.

Rookie Traeshon Holden has been working his way up the depth chart, impressing coaches with his route-running and contested-catch skills, so the Cowboys must choose between him and the veterans for one of the scarce receiver spots. In the backfield, Dallas is working three options, Jaydon Blue, Javonte Williams, and others, to discover a lead back who can absorb a heavy workload prior to Week 1. With All-Pro guard Zack Martin calling it quits, there’s a significant gap on the offensive line, and the depth chart and the salary cap math have shifted for Brian Schottenheimer to reallocate those assets. With all this new blood, veteran stalwarts, and cap implications, the last piece of roster decisions is an actual puzzle for the Cowboys.

Schottenheimer had the scouting department from training camp in Oxnard and had them sit with scouts, coaches, and front office personnel to discuss roster direction. This allows roster decisions not to be made in a vacuum but with the best collective intelligence of football minds within the organization. It has been particularly valuable with some of the position battles being so close, where margins between players might be the difference in making the roster.

Things might not be going very well…

NFL analysts have rendered a stern evaluation of the Cowboys in 2025, with Ali Bhanpuri forecasting 7-10 and Adam Rank 8-9. Both believe the Cowboys begin the year 1-5 based on “distractions” emanating from around the team. The worry is the unsettled contract situations and organizational uncertainty that will sidetrack the early season.

The general opinion of the analysts is that the issues extend beyond the coaching transition. “They’ve filled in some pieces, such as George Pickens, to complement Dak Prescott as he returns from an injury-shortened season, but I don’t understand why they won’t give Micah Parsons an extension,” Rank said. He’s highlighting the potential for contract talks to cause tension in the locker room. Last season, we saw this with CeeDee Lamb‘s holdout hurting the offense for weeks.

Present estimates see the Cowboys third in the NFC East, as Ali Bhanpui predicts, behind the current Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Commanders.

The daunting early schedule only intensifies the worry, beginning with a Thursday Night Football road opener at Philadelphia.