Cowboys' Joseph On The Chopping Block?

With the preseason now officially underway, the Dallas Cowboys will have some difficult decisions to make in the coming weeks. 

Like every NFL team, the Cowboys will have to cut their current roster of roughly 90 players down to 53 before the regular season begins. Dallas has plenty of talent on the roster, and roster cuts inevitably mean parting ways with some quality players.

Could one such player be cornerback Kelvin Joseph? Our Mike Fisher (see Fish Report video below) suggests that Joseph is having a difficult time finding his place on the Dallas depth chart ... that he's "not showing enough'' as a corner ... and that as much as the Cowboys would hate to admit a mistake, or give up on, a third-year player who was a second-round pick, "BossMan Fat'' may find himself on the roster bubble if he doesn't start excelling in opportunities like Saturday's preseason opener with the Jags at AT&T Stadium.

Is Joseph's future really in jeopardy? Consider the bodies ahead of him: Trevon Diggs and Stephon Gilmore start, with slot corner DaRon Bland also essentially a starter. Rookie Eric Scott Jr. is listed high on the depth chart. Nahshon Wright is in the mix. Jourdan Lewis, battling injury, is an accomplished slot corner.

Meanwhile, Joseph has in a sense switched positions, moving away from boundary corner ... while also trying to continue to pick up on how to play on special teams.

Joseph, a 2021 second-round pick, has never been much of a special-teams player before late last year, when he impressed coaches with his development there. But at corner? Last year was a struggle. He got a shot when Anthony Brown was lost for the season but allowed 12 completions for 219 yards and four touchdowns on 18 targets ... while allowing a passer rating of 147.9.

And that send the organization in a mad scramble for help from on-the-couch free agent corners.

Joseph has started just three games in two seasons, and was even benched last year during a Week 15 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. This came shortly after Cowboys owner Jerry Jones called out Joseph specifically in December, saying it's time for him to step up.

"It's time for him to become a man," Jones told 105.3 The Fan. "Accept a higher level of responsibility. He’s got more people depending on him. It’s time for some of the side stuff to ease its way out of his life."

Jones' comments were about Joseph's off-field behavior. Those sad issues haven't surfaced again. Now it's about football ... and if his roster spot is already in jeopardy after just two years, it's safe to say those expectations have not been met.