Cowboys vs. Raiders: How to Watch, Betting Odds, New QB, Cuts on Offense?

The Cowboys host the Las Vegas Raiders in the third and final tilt of the exhibition season in anticipation of the Aug. 29 roster cut deadline.

Author:
Timm Hamm
Publish date:
Aug 26, 2023 10:09 AM EDT

In this story:

Dallas Cowboys

ARLINGTON - The Dallas Cowboys host the AFC West's Seattle Seahawks in the final game of the preseason for both teams. It's time for roster and player evaluations with the deadline to cut to 53 players on Aug. 29. ... and with QB Will Grier sure to be among those cuts now that Dallas has traded for QB Trey Lance.

So Saturday is "The Will Grier Show'' for the Cowboys. ... as the top two dozen Dallas players will sit. The Raiders look like they'll wait until the regular season to expose their starters, too, as coach Josh McDaniels indicated the first-teamers won't play on Saturday.

“I don’t know that we are going to put some guys out there again,” McDaniels said, via ProFootballTalk. “We’ll sit down tonight and finalize that, but I think there’s going to be some guys that won’t suit up or won’t play. They’ll suit up but they won’t play.”

All with Grier, among the biggest remaining storylines for the Cowboys, as the preseason comes to a close, are at the tight end and running back positions.

Rookie Deuce Vaughn turned heads this offseason and that's extended to the preseason. He's battling Malik Davis, Rico Dowdle, and Ronald Jones - who is facing a two-game suspension to be served in the regular season - for the RB2 spot behind Tony Pollard.

The tight end room is an interesting one for the Cowboys, where Jake Ferguson, Dallas' fourth-round draft pick from a year ago, is the presumed starter and has shown flashes of brilliance this offseason.

Luke Schoonmaker, the Michigan product and Cowboys second-round pick this year, missed time early in training camp with an injury, but it's hoped he can assume the role of TE2.

Peyton Hendershot, the undrafted free agent from Indiana that the Cowboys signed post-draft last year, impressed last season. Entering training camp, his name was associated with the TE3 label. But as the offseason often goes, things change.

John Stephens Jr., a 6-5, 232-pound former Rajun Cajun from the University of Louisiana, is out for the year, so it's young veteran Sean McKeon fighting to see if a fourth tight end is kept.

WHAT: Las Vegas Raiders (2-0) at Dallas Cowboys (0-2)

WHERE: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas (100,000)

WHEN: Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, 7 p.m. CT

TELEVISION: KTVT-TV CBS-11 / FuboTV (try it free)

RADIO: KRLD-FM 105.3 The Fan

TICKETS: SI Tickets

BETTING: SI SportsBook

SPREAD: Raiders -4.5

TOTAL: 38.5

MONEYLINE: Raiders -250, Cowboys +188

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