Dallas City News

Life in the NFL is all about sustainability, whether as a starter, backup, or a special teams player. The latter of the three has been why C.J. Goodwin has continually held a roster spot in his nine-year career in the league, the last six of which with the Dallas Cowboys. His six-year run in Dallas though may not extend to a seventh.

The Cowboys had quite a bit of roster turnover during the offseason and did little to nothing to replace some of the players they lost to free agency. While it’s true they have the majority of their starters returning, the depth behind them and the few jobs up for grabs leaves little wiggle room for specialty players like Goodwin.

Each and every roster spot will have to be heavily scrutinized for when the Cowboys and the rest the league have to get under the league mandated 53-roster. To designate a spot for a special teams player like Goodwin may be deemed as poor roster management, especially considering he offers little to nothing to the team defensively or anywhere else.

In his six-year run with the Cowboys he’s played a grand total of 58 defensive snaps compared to 1,424 on special teams. A few of those years he didn’t take a single snap on the defensive side of the ball. A younger/cheaper option who has at least some upside to contribute to the team other than special teams could possibly push Goodwin off the roster.

There is one person who could be in his corner though, Cowboys special teams coach John Fassel. He will more likely than not plead his case as to why Goodwin should be kept around. Outside of kicker, punter, and long snapper he’d probably argue No. 29 is the most important special teams player he currently has on the roster. Will that be enough though?

Due to the way the roster is currently constructed, and the youth movement that seems to be taking place this year, Dallas may have to go deeper at certain positions than they have in years past. For a specialty player like Goodwin, that could make it more difficult to secure a roster spot this year, even with the recent rule changes to the return game.

Unfortunately, this is just the nature of the business. Teams are always looking for ways to go younger/cheaper with players who can hopefully contribute to the team in multiple ways. We all know how the saying goes, “the more you can do”. Sadly doing one thing really well may not be enough any longer, at least where Goodwin is possibly concerned.