Cracking the Dallas Cowboys roster in 2025 is not going to be an easy task for anyone, much less late-round draft picks and undrafted free agents scraping and clawing their way toward relevance in the first place.
The Cowboys have reloaded at the wide receiver position over the course of the last year, making a trade during the 2024 season to acquire former second-round pick Jonathan Mingo from the Carolina Panthers before making a blockbuster in the 2025 offseason to add George Pickens to the mix.
The Cowboys already had players like Jalen Tolbert, Jalen Brooks, and KaVontae Turpin on the roster, and also added free agent Parris Campbell to the mix in 2025.
Second-year player Ryan Flournoy has a chance to be a sleeper in training camp and the preseason, and Jalen Cropper has managed to stick around since 2023.
There simply isn’t much room at all for receivers in Dallas right now, meaning a promising undrafted free agent like Traeshon Holden might be in need of a miracle to make the 53-man roster as a rookie.
Traeshon Holden facing uphill climb to Dallas Cowboys 53-man roster entering camp
It feels like Traeshon Holden is one of a number of Dallas Cowboys undrafted free agents in 2025 facing an uphill climb to make any noise for the 53-man roster this coming season.
It’s already difficult enough for UDFAs to make it, but the Cowboys have clearly taken drastic steps to reload at receiver, meaning a player like Holden is more likely fighting for a practice squad spot than he is a roster spot.
And you never know where that may lead.
The biggest advantage in Holden’s favor at this point is that he has an advocate on the Dallas staff.
Junior Adams was Holden’s receivers coach with the Oregon Ducks, and is now on the Cowboys’ coaching staff in the same capacity.
Adams isn’t going to be able to force one of his guys onto the roster, but he’ll be able to pound the table for his guy when it comes time to determine practice squad spots.
And in the meantime, it’s up to Holden to take advantage of every single rep.
He’s going to get plenty of chances in practices and preseason action to differentiate himself from some of the other young receivers on the Dallas roster, and you never know what can happen when guys get out there on the field.
Holden was an Alabama transfer who finished his college career with the Oregon Ducks, where he posted pretty modest numbers overall.
But the fact that he signed with Dallas this offseason is indicative of the team’s trust for Adams as their receivers coach, and that will carry some weight when determining not only the final 53, but the final 69 when you include practice squad players.
