Tag: cuts to 80

Cowboys put veteran TE on IR, cut four others, to make 80-man deadline

Lirim Hajrullahu, Christian Sam, Quandre Mosely, and Jaquarii Roberson were waived/released on Tuesday; Jeremy Sprinkle goes to IR.

Five more Cowboys are cleaning out their locker at The Star in Frisco.

With a 3 p.m. deadline to trim the roster to 80 players, the Cowboys have announced that linebacker Christian Sam, wide receiver Jaquarii Roberson, and cornerback Quandre Mosely have been waived. News of kicker Lirim Hajrullahu’s cut had been announced earlier in the day. Veteran tight end Jeremy Sprinkle was placed on injured reserve with an Achilles issue, ending his 2022 season.

Of that group, Sprinkle had the most experience. The 28-year-old, a former fifth-round draft pick, spent four seasons with rival Washington before joining the Cowboys in 2021. Used primarily as a blocker and on special teams, he caught just three passes last season. The team currently has four other tight ends in Dalton Schultz, Sean McKeon, fourth-round draft pick Jake Ferguson, and undrafted free agent Peyton Hendershot.

Sam was a sixth-round draft pick by the Patriots in 2018. He spent time in camp with three other NFL teams before landing with the Tampa Bay Bandits and then the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL this past spring. The native Texan signed with Dallas in July following the conclusion of the USFL season. Sam has an injury designation.

Mosely and Roberson were undrafted free agent rookies this season from Kentucky and Wake Forest, respectively.

With one more preseason game to play on Friday, the Cowboys must now cut 27 more players to get their roster to 53 by Aug. 30.

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Cowboys waive WR to activate two players off COVID-19 list

Dallas activated WR Jon’Vea Johnson and CB Saivion Smith to the roster, waiving undrafted free agent WR Kendrick Rogers in order to do so.

Wide receiver Jon’Vea Johnson and cornerback Saivion Smith were activated to the Cowboys’ active roster on Sunday after spending time on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. But with team rosters set at just 80 players under current coronavirus protocols, the club had to waive wide receiver Kendrick Rogers to make room.

Johnson was signed by Dallas as an undrafted free agent in 2019 and enjoyed a promising rookie camp. Hurt in that preseason’s final game, though, he spent all of last season on injured reserve. He was the first Cowboys player to be placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list in late July. While that designation alone does not necessarily mean a player has contracted the coronavirus or even received a positive test, it was later reported that Johnson was found to be “actively positive from a PCR nasal-swab exam.”

Smith is technically a first-year player from Alabama, even though he spent last year’s training camp with the Jaguars. Cut at the end of the preseason, Smith was out of football for the remainder of 2019. He played with the XFL’s Houston Roughnecks before signing with the Cowboys in April. He was found to be actively positive for COVID-19 (from the same type of exam as Johnson) on July 31, but was reported to be asymptomatic.

Thought by some to be a potential first-round talent at the end of the 2018 NCAA season, wideout Kendrick Rogers returned to College Station and ended up catching 30 balls for the Aggies in 2019, totaling 351 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His 40-yard dash time at February’s combine was impressive, but Rogers ultimately went undrafted in April.

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