Sometimes draft picks just don’t work out for the teams that picked them. Underperformance, scheme changes, misevaluations, injuries, patience and general mishandling can all lead to a premature parting of the ways. Drafting isn’t an exact art and situations change. Players move on and that’s exactly what happened to one of the Dallas Cowboys‘ 2024 draft picks.

In a move to clear roster space for free agent Perrion Winfrey this past spring, the Cowboys parted ways seventh rounder Justin Rogers out of Auburn who got the pink slip. Rodgers has just signed on with the Seattle Seahawks this week.

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At 6-foot-2, 338 pounds, Rogers was once billed as a potential solution to the Cowboys run-stuffing problems in the middle of their line. A rotational plugger had been lacking in Dallas for some time and finding a stubborn speed bump became a low-key priority each offseason.

Unfortunately, Rogers never quite worked out. Despite all of Dallas’ ongoing issues at defensive tackle, Rogers failed to make the cut out of camp. After latching on with the Cincinnati Bengals for the 2024 regular season, the Cowboys re-signed their former pick in the offseason of 2025. The reunion proved to be short lived.

Winfrey plays a different brand of DT entirely. Fitting the 3-technique profile, Winfrey is one of a handful of players competing for snaps behind Osa Odighizuwa. It’s the 300+ pound rookies Jay Toia and Tommy Akingbesote who are what likely made Rogers expendable. Now it’s up to them to do what Rogers could not: make the final roster and improve the Cowboys run defense inside.

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In 2022 the Cowboys were in a similar situation with rookie defensive tackle John Ridgeway. Facing a roster crunch at positions elsewhere, Ridgeway found himself on the wrong side of the bubble when it came time to trim the final roster. Ridgeway went on to sign with Washington and has been a rotational piece in the years since. Rogers hopes for the same fortune in his post-Cowboys employment.

The Cowboys, on the other hand, can’t afford to lose another promising draft pick to a rival club.

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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys officially lose a 2024 draft pick to another NFL team