Dallas Cowboys Waive RB, Elevate 2 DBs Before Kickoff vs. Buccaneers

The Dallas Cowboys made multiple roster moves before Thursday Night Football.

Dallas Cowboys safety Juanyeh Thomas (43) shakes hands with a fan after defeating the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Dallas Cowboys are makings changes to their running back room ahead of Week 5 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football.

On top of that, Dallas is once again securing some depth in the secondary for the primetime game.

The Cowboys made multiple roster moves on Thursday afternoon ahead of kickoff, as the team announced that it has waived running back Emari Demercado while elevating safety Juanyeh Thomas and cornerback Reddy Steward from the practice squad.

The decision to waive Demercado comes after the Cowboys activated starting left guard Tyler Smith from injured reserve. He's now set to make his season debut after missing the first four games following thumb surgery.

Cowboys Officially Have a New RB2

Dallas Cowboys running back Tyler Goodson (32) reacts in front of Houston Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter (3) after making a first down during the first half at Reliant Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

As if it wasn't already obvious enough based on the past two weeks, the Cowboys have officially signaled their plans at backup running back moving forward by waiving Demercado. He was claimed off waivers by Dallas before the start of the season but had just five carries for 15 yards and was a healthy scratch the past two games.

Cowboys running back Tyler Goodson now has uncontested competition as the backup to Javonte Williams after joining the roster ahead of Week 2. He was on the Atlanta Falcons practice squad following training camp but has shown some impressive burst with the Cowboys, tallying nine carries for 34 yards in his first two games with the team.

Dallas has had a revolving door when it comes to running back depth since training camp, waiving Israel Abanikanda, Jaydon Blue, Phil Mafah and now Demercado. Malik Davis was expected to win the backup job but he suffered a season-ending injury before Week 1.

Now, Goodson is the official RB2 moving forward, though Williams will remain the workhorse out of the backfield. There's no committee at running back in Dallas. Williams is coming off a three-touchdown day against the Houston Texans and will receive the bulk of the carries barring injury.

Cowboys Still Not Ignoring Depth in Secondary

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Reddy Steward (27) during practice at the Clube de Regatas do Flamengo training ground. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Cowboys had elevated Steward and Thomas ahead of Week 4 against Houston. On a short week headed into Thursday night, their return to the active roster doesn't come as much of a surprise as the Cowboys continue to recover from multiple injuries in the secondary.

Steward had four solo tackles in the win over the Texans while Thomas received 25 snaps on special teams.

The Cowboys and Bucs kick off from AT&T Stadium on Thursday night at 7:15 p.m. CT.

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