Dallas Cowboys: Final 53-man roster prediction for 2021

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 29: Quarterback Garrett Gilbert #3 of the Dallas Cowboys calls a play against theJacksonville Jaguars during the second quarter of a NFL preseason football game at AT&T Stadium on August 29, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 29: Quarterback Garrett Gilbert #3 of the Dallas Cowboys calls a play against theJacksonville Jaguars during the second quarter of a NFL preseason football game at AT&T Stadium on August 29, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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Dallas Cowboys
OXNARD, CA – AUGUST 03: Quarterbacks Dak Prescott #4 and Cooper Rush #10 of the Dallas Cowboys talk during training camp at River Ridge Complex on August 3, 2021 in Oxnard, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

The Dallas Cowboys have until 4:00 p.m. ET on Aug. 31 to finalize their 53-man roster. Here we predict which players will make the cut for Week 1.

Dallas Cowboys fans still haven’t seen Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott or a slew of other stars that will be vital to their success in the 2021 NFL season. But the preseason is now over, which means it’s time for the roster to get cut down.

Even with an extra preseason contest with the Hall of Fame Game, the Cowboys failed to secure a win in any of the exhibition games. They are hoping that’s not a trend that continues in the regular season and how they construct the 53-man roster will be pivotal for that.

With final roster cuts to get to 53 needing to be made by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Aug. 31, who is going to make the cut? We have our final predictions for the 2021 Dallas Cowboys.

Dallas Cowboys Quarterbacks (3)

Dak Prescott, Garrett Gilbert, Cooper Rush

Ignore the reports that Dak Prescott might not be 100 percent for Weel 1, that man is going to be on the field when the Dallas Cowboys take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to kick off the 2021 season.

Sure, there will be plenty of rust to knock off, but he’s going to play and the team will respond to having their No. 1 quarterback out there with them again. As for who will be the primary backup, that’s where the real question comes in.

The favorite entering the preseason was Garrett Gilbert but he was up and down for many of their games. He might have won himself the No. 2 job after out-playing Cooper Rush in their finale.

As for Rush, ge’s been with this team for a while — spare for a cup of coffee with the Giants last season — and really stood out in their game against Houston. He also got a vote of confidence from Jerry Jones, which always helps a player in Big D. He makes the team in this prediction because he played well enough to earn a spot and Gilbert might not have done enough throughout the entire preseason to convince them to stick with just two signal-callers.

The missing name here is second-year player Ben DiNucci. Head coach Mike McCarthy has been giving him chances to make this team but his mistakes are too much to overlook. The good news is, they can probably add him to the practice squad because it’s unlikely he gets claimed.