Isaac Alarcon

Cowboys Get Down To 53

More roster cuts to pass along! The Cowboys have now gotten their roster down to 53 as well, making a slew of cuts in the process. Here are the latest cutdown day casualties out of Dallas:

Released:

Waived:

Thompson played in 15 games with the Cowboys last year and started seven, but wasn’t able to crack the 53-man roster this time around. The safety started four games for Dallas the year before in 2019. Sprinkle flashed some potential with Washington in 2019 when he had 241 yards, but he was a non-factor in the passing game last year.

Hamilton also started a couple of games for the Cowboys last year, and the release of several significant contributors shows Mike McCarthy was serious about overhauling that side of the ball. Hardy is the undrafted rookie who has been featured on this year’s season of HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks.’ He’s expected to be added to the practice squad if he clears waivers, Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News tweets.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/5/21

We’ll keep track of the latest reserve/futures deals here:

Carolina Panthers 

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

NFC East Teams Sign Players Via International Player Pathway Program

As part of this year’s International Player Pathway program, each team in the NFC East will be allowed to carry an extra, international player on their practice squad. The four organizations quickly filled these spots (via David Helman of DallasCowboys.com):

  • Dallas Cowboys: OT Isaac Alarcon (Mexico)
  • New York Giants: RB Sandro Platzgummer (Austria)
  • Philadelphia Eagles: DE Matt Leo (Australia)
  • Washington Redskins: DE David Bada (Germany)

These players will remain on their teams’ roster through training camp. At that point, each organization can sign the player to their practice squad via the “international player practice squad exemption.” This means NFC East squads can hold 11 practice squad players throughout the 2020 campaign. However, under these circumstances, the international players can’t be activated to the active roster during the 2020 season.

The International Player Pathway program was first introduced in 2017. As Helman notes, three players from last year’s program – fullback Jakob Johnson (Patriots), defensive tackle Durval Queiroz Neto (Dolphins), and running back Christian Wade (Bills) – are still with their original teams.