3 surprise cuts the Cowboys could make by Week 1

2. Cowboys surprise cut: CB C.J. Goodwin

Over the past few seasons, C.J. Goodwin has been a huge piece for the Cowboys, just not in the most traditional sense. While he’s listed as a cornerback on the depth chart, the fact of the matter is that Dallas loves him most for his special teams prowess, which is where he’s made his bread as an ace for that unit.

Now, this might seem a little tricky, but Goodwin potentially getting cut isn’t about the team losing faith or not having room for him — that couldn’t be further from the case. As a vested veteran, though, Goodwin doesn’t have to clear waivers and can be outright released.

Because of that, this affords the team the ability to cut him outright to make room for injured players like James Washington or even potentially Michael Gallup on the initial 53-man roster before moving them to IR. Once on IR, they could re-sign a player like Goodwin to get back into the fold. It’s a move Dallas has deployed many times before and wouldn’t be shocking to see again with the special teams stud being a prime candidate to be at the center of it.

1. Cowboys surprise cut: DT Carlos Watkins

Trysten Hill, now infamously, was the franchise’s first selection in the 2019 draft when Dallas took him at the end of the second round. The team, of course, had traded its first-round selection to the Raiders in exchange for wide receiver Amari Cooper. But the hope was that Hill would come out of UCF and shore up an interior defensive line that had been lacking for some time.

Prior to training camp, he would’ve been the easy pick here to thin out the defensive tackle room for 2022. But it’s perhaps more surprising that a now-healthy Hill, after underperforming early in his career and missing most of last season with an injury, has been flashing in a big way, including notching a huge strip sack and recovery against the Chargers backups.

So that leaves veteran Carlos Watkins as the odd man out in this scenario. The veteran came to the Cowboys last season and was fine, but this is a group that is going to be banking on young talent taking a step forward at defensive tackle. As such, that leaves less room on the roster for Watkins.