4 Cowboys who played their way off the roster in preseason finale and why

Another preseason is in the books for the Dallas Cowboys and, to put it mildly, there's still quite a lot that Jerry Jones and the rest of the front office needs to sort out. Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb remain without new contracts, DaRon Bland just went down with an injury that could sideline him for two months, and Ezekiel Elliott remains a question mark as the team's lead running back.

But before we get to most of the ways that the Cowboys will address the biggest orders of business, the most pressing matter is cutdown day following a preseason finale loss to the Chargers on Saturday. Dallas and the rest of the league will have to get their 53-man rosters finalized by Tuesday, Aug. 27, meaning that tough decisions will have to be made.

Having said that, it feels like these four players made some of those decisions quite a bit easier in the last game of the preseason with their performances, the situations that developed, or a combination of all of that. All told, though, you can bank on these four Cowboys players being cut when the time comes.

4. Kemon Hall, CB

After notching a pick-six in the second week of the preseason, it seemed like Kemon Hall, a 2019 UDFA signing by the Chargers who has bounced around the NFL a bit, could be making a serious push for a spot on the 53-man roster. However, he was out of Saturday's preseason finale against Los Angeles with a shoulder injury.

Now, I don't want to fully penalize a guy for not playing but this was just about the worst time for an injury like that to pop up for a player like Hall. It also gave Andrew Booth Jr., who the Cowboys traded Nahshon Wright for earlier in the preseason, to get more reps and show off. Booth wasn't perfect -- notably giving up a 78-yard touchdown early -- but he rebounded from mistakes to make some good plays and prove why Mike Zimmer has been high on him to this point.

Hall seems likely to be a practice squad addition, especially after choosing to not play through the injury on Saturday. But sitting out that game while Booth continued to flash some real promise will likely give Booth the edge in taking the roster spot opened up with Bland now out of the picture for the foreseeable future after his injury diagnosis.

3. Royce Freeman, RB

We mentioned the running back depth as a question for Dallas, even at the top of the depth chart where some combination of Zeke and Rico Dowdle reside. Behind those guys, though, it's even more interesting. But we may have seen Deuce Vaughn provide some of that clarity on Saturday with a stellar performance from the diminutive 2023 sixth-round pick for the Cowboys. And Royce Freeman will likely be the one who feels the heat from that.

Vaughn led all running backs by a wide margin in rushing against the Chargers, taking nine carries for 53 yards on the day, including an impressive 18-yard burst. But perhaps more impressively, the Kansas State product showed off his versatility and potential other holes that he could fill with a nice 23-yard kickoff return in this game as well. Special teams value is so often a deciding final roster cuts, so Vaughn offering something Freeman didn't show (at least in this game) is critical.

Freeman wasn't worthless by any stretch in the final outing of the preseason, rushing for 35 yards on eight carries and notching a seven-yard reception. But Vaughn was drafted by the Cowboys and may be getting special teams work while also impressing in this game out of the backfield. That's likely enough to give the second-year back the edge in this battle, leaving Freeman in the cold.

2. Trey Lance, QB

Look, it's been fun to talk about Trey Lance throughout the preseason, including the possibility of the Cowboys trading him to a team interested in the near-limitless upside that the former 49ers third-overall pick has. However, any indications that Lance was seriously battling Cooper Rush to be the primary backup for Dak this season were always ludicrous and Saturday's action showed exactly why.

Lance had some flashes of brilliance in this game, including a blistering 46-yard touchdown run and a dime of a touchdown toss to Ryan Flournoy. But the rest of it was downright awful and a full-blown indication of why Mike McCarthy wanted to play him a full preseason game and why teams remain hesitant to invest in Lance. He threw five interceptions, including at least three that were truly abysmal, and was a big reason why the Cowboys didn't pick up a meaningless victory.

Until Lance can seriously develop as a passer, he doesn't have any business seeing an NFL field during the regular season. Jerry Jones has said Lance will get a 53-man roster spot but that truly feels like a misuse of resources at this point. This performance showed he really doesn't have a role to play with Dallas this season and he should either be traded or stashed on the practice squad (if they can make that happen).

1. Jalen Cropper, WR

If you asked anyone which wide receiver the Cowboys would be keeping on the roster should they choose to keep six players at the position after the first week-plus of training camp, Jalen Cropper would've easily edged out rookie sixth-rounder Ryan Flournoy. He was a star in practices and seemed to be trending toward locking up a roster spot. But the script has flipped entirely since then.

Flournoy has gotten better with each week and followed up a touchdown grab in the second week of the preseason with another impressive catch for a score against the Chargers, ending the day with three receptions for 30 yards and that touchdown. Cropper, meanwhile, was largely invisible, catching just one of his three targets on the day for only seven yards.

With the way the narrative has flipped in this battle, the lasting impression of Flournoy from Saturday -- in addition the Cowboys affinity for prioritizing keeping rookies on the 53-man roster -- could leave Cropper, who was a UDFA signing last offseason, on the wrong side of the cut line.