Dallas Cowboys' Roster Moves Examined, Gordon Cut in Lieu Of Six Safeties

There are several roster decisions made by the front office of the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday (9/3/10) that have garnered a multitude of reactions from fans and experts alike. Among the most seemingly strange moves that Jones, Phillips, and company made was to keep only three cornerbacks with their cut of Cletis Gordon.

Other moves that depart from the norm for the team were keeping two Fullbacks, only two Tight Ends, and six safeties. While at first glance cutting Gordon would appear to be a bad move, once you delve into the defensive back depth chart it becomes a little more clear why this move was made.

If you look at their safeties, the Cowboys have two that have previous CB experience. Alan Ball played 16 games at that position for the Cowboys last year before being moved into the starting FS spot. (It's reported that Ball went up twenty pounds during the off-season to prepare for his move to safety.)

With their fourth round selection the Cowboys gained the services of Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, who has experience at the CB position in college, and has already shown good coverage and ball-hawking skills in the last three preseason games. Gordon's agent was as surprised as anyone due to Gordon's performance in camp, leading the team in unofficial interceptions, but he was dominated in the Miami game on Thursday, getting beat often and unable to make tackles.

Whereas AOA exhibited his ball-hawking skills and instinct for the ball with his interception against Miami, and also displayed the decisiveness necessary to return kicks. McCray showed his worth on special teams throughout the preseason (although he didn't get much play time in the Miami game, he was at the top of the list of tackles going into it).

The abilities of AOA as a return man and his ability to back up both the FS and CB positions, combined with a lower price tag and higher upside when compared to Gordon made it very difficult for the Cowboys brass to justify keeping the fifth year CB.

Especially if keeping him meant cutting someone else who can contribute in a more immediate way, add depth at more than one position, or be a tackling machine on Special Teams. Once you think about it, it's easy to see why the Cowboys' front office found it difficult to justify Gordon's spot on the roster and made a wise move by cutting him.

By adding Gronkowski behind starting FB Anderson they added depth at both the FB and TE positions, taking Martin Rucker's potential position at the number three TE spot. Gronkowski's athleticism and versatility make him ideal for the role as the number three TE behind Witten and Bennett, and provide a safety net should starting FB Deon Anderson get in any more off-field legal trouble.

Patrick Crayton's trade to the Chargers is old news, but should be talked about, as it moves Hurd into position to get more receptions and have a possible break-out year should the injury bug strike the receiving corps. Before Hurd's injury in 2008 he was viewed as the better option at WR than Austin, so it could be an interesting year again for the 'boys at WR, with the addition of Bryant and the possible emergence of Hurd and Ogletree.

With the possible exception of the offensive line I think Jones did a great job at improving the depth of almost every position this off season. We'll see if this transfers into wins as the season progresses.