Cowboys Start 53-Man Roster Cuts, Releasing Ex-TCU Star: Report

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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones surveys the field before an NFL game.

The Dallas Cowboys have begun the process of cutting down to the 53-man roster, starting with a young talent that was entering his second year with Dallas. Defensive end Ben Banogu and offensive lineman Alec Lindstrom were the first of the major wave of cuts, although QB Will Grier was told of his pending release a couple of days prior.

Dallas Morning News reporter Michael Gehlken was first to report the news of the Lindstrom and Banogu’s release. Banogu was hoping for a sort of Dallas homecoming after impressing at TCU, but it appears he’ll have to take his talents elsewhere.

“Cowboys have begun the difficult process of reducing roster to 53 players. Some moves today. The bulk Tuesday morning. Center Alec Lindstrom has been notified he’s been waived, a person familiar with the decision said. He spent 2022 on Dallas practice squad,” Gehlken wrote on X. “Cowboys have informed DE Ben Banogu he’s been released, a person familiar with the decision said. The 2019 second-round pick and former TCU standout spent the past four seasons with the Colts.”

Neither cut comes a surprise, as Banogu has not lived up to his draft billing and Lindstrom was a practice squad player for the Cowboys in 2022 after going undrafted in last year’s NFL draft cycle.

Banogu Doesn’t Find Success in Dallas

It was always going to be an uphill battle for Banogu with the Cowboys. Dallas can claim they have one of the strongest set of DEs in the league thanks to the likes of Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Sam Williams and Dorance Armstrong Jr.

There’s also concern that Banogu may just not have the ability to play at a consistent level in the NFL. After a fine rookie season in 2019 when the Nigerian defensive end earned 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble, Pro Football Reference shows that he failed to make an impact with the Colts in the three years that followed.

Injuries got in the way both in 2020 and 2021, but the former TCU standout never started a game for Indianapolis. The highest amount of defensive snaps he’s played in a season, 271 in his rookie year, was just 26% of all defensive snaps for Indy.

Players don’t get drafted in the second round without having some kind of talent, but where Banogu goes after his time with the Colts and release from the Cowboys is up in the air.

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott Speaks on Trey Lance Arrival

As Dallas prepares to bid farewell to tens of players, they made waves by trading for former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance. Lance, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, joins the Cowboys after two years and just 8 appearances with the 49ers.

The move is clearly one for the future and not to provide any immediate competition with quarterback Dak Prescott, and Dallas’ current starter seems to be a big fan of the move and up to the task of helping Lance develop.

“Obviously, I understand it’s a business,” Prescott said on August 26. “That’s a first-round talent and you’re always trying to make your team better. But that [move] was the front office, so we’re going to welcome him as we do any teammate, and hopefully just he makes us better and then we’re gonna continue to get back at it. I know we’ve got one goal as a team.”

Prescott is entering his eighth year in the league and with the Cowboys, but only has one more year on his deal after the 2023 season ends.

Evan Reier is a sports reporter covering the Cowboys and 49ers for Heavy.com. He previously covered sports for the Montana Standard and was a managing editor for Outsider. More about Evan Reier