Sunday’s roster cutdown deadline is where the NFL’s waiver machine kicks into overdrive, and for the Cowboys it comes at a time when every move matters. By 6 PM ET on August 30th, teams have to get down to the initial 53-man roster, and Dallas has its own difficult decisions ahead after two straight years out of the playoffs.
The Cowboys have drawn positive reviews for their offseason work, and the betting markets have noticed too. Sports books, including partner FanDuel, list Dallas as probable for playoff action (-124), which puts the team sixth in the NFC.
Once the cuts are in, the real scramble begins. Teams will be trying to fill holes either by claiming players who were released or by trading for them before they hit the wire.
The waiver process itself can be a little messy, but the basic timeline is simple: teams have until 1 PM ET on August 31st, the day after cutdown day, to submit claims. After the NFL processes everything, clubs can start building out their practice squads.
Not every player is treated the same in that process. The league splits cut players into two groups based on service time: vested players and those who have not reached that status.
A vested player is one who has been credited with four or more seasons of NFL experience. To earn a credited season, a player must have been on the active, inactive, IR, or PUP roster for three or more regular-season or postseason games.
A player can also receive a credited season through an injury settlement or grievance for the equivalent of three or more regular-season games. That credited-season rule is separate from accrued seasons, which are used to determine free-agent status.
Vested players do not go on waivers during this period and can sign with any team at any time between the day after the Super Bowl and the NFL trade deadline. After the deadline, though, they are subject to waivers through the Super Bowl. Non-vested players - anyone with three or fewer credited seasons - do go on waivers, and if nobody claims them, they become free to negotiate with teams as free agents.
When a player is available on waivers, the league uses a priority order to sort out who gets him. That order applies now and through the first three weeks of the season, and it matches the 2026 draft order before any trades were made.
One important wrinkle: a team does not get bumped to the back after making a claim. If the team at the top of the order, such as the Raiders, claims five players, it gets all five.
There’s no cycling to the end of the line after a successful claim.
Right now, the Cowboys sit 12th in the waiver order. Here’s how the full order stands:
Las Vegas Raiders
New York Jets
Arizona Cardinals
Tennessee Titans
New York Giants
Cleveland Browns
Washington Commanders
New Orleans Saints
Kansas City Chiefs
Cincinnati Bengals
Miami Dolphins
Dallas Cowboys
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Indianapolis Colts
Detroit Lions
Minnesota Vikings
Carolina Panthers
Green Bay Packers
Pittsburgh Steelers
Los Angeles Chargers
Philadelphia Eagles
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Buffalo Bills
San Francisco 49ers
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Rams
Denver Broncos
New England Patriots
Seattle Seahawks
In Other News...
Cowboys Already Tipped Their Hand On Most Of The 53-Man Roster
The preseason ended with a loss to the New Orleans Saints, but the bigger takeaway for Dallas came from who did not suit up. By sitting 33 players in the finale, the Cowboys made it pretty clear which parts of the roster they already view as settled, even before the leagues cutdown window closes on Aug. 30.
For the rest of the roster, the final exhibition was less about the scoreboard and more about the uncertainty still hanging around the edges. Dallas now has to turn those last evaluations into a 53-man roster, and while the broad outline may already be visible, the final few decisions are still the ones that matter most. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Roster Watch Has Turned Shiyazh Pete Into A Story To Follow
Shiyazh Pete has become one of the more interesting names in Cowboys roster watch this summer, even if the path ahead still looks steep. The undrafted offensive tackle has shown enough promise in preseason to stay in the conversation, and his background already makes him a notable figure: a former starter at New Mexico State and Kentucky, he also carries the possibility of becoming the first member of the Navajo Nation to play in an NFL game.
For now, the most realistic landing spot appears to be the practice squad, where Dallas could keep developing him without asking him to beat out more established options before the 2026 season begins. Even so, Pete is the kind of player teams keep a close eye on at the end of a roster cycle, because one injury or one underwhelming camp from someone else at his position can quickly change the picture. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Suddenly Have A Linebacker Problem Right Before Cutdowns
Marist Liufaus preseason had been trending in the right direction until the Cowboys finale against the Saints, when the outside linebacker suffered a broken left forearm and was ruled out for the rest of the game. A third-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Liufau had worked himself into an important role in Dallas defensive rotation while also contributing on special teams, making him more than just another body on the edge.
The timing makes it especially difficult for the Cowboys as they head into roster cutdowns and start sorting out the depth chart for the regular season. For the defensive staff, losing a young linebacker who had become part of the weekly plan means another adjustment at a spot where reliability matters, and it leaves Dallas weighing how to replace both his defensive snaps and his special teams value. [Read more 🡒]