Patrik Walker

FRISCO, TexasFor yet another season, the injury bug has taken a chunk out of the Dallas Cowboys roster. And though that is far from the only reason they've struggled and now find themselves attempting to repair a 2-3 start to the season, missing starters does inevitably impact a team's ability to win games.

They're attempting to manage the injury issues with what's become a rapidly dwindling toolbox called Injured Reserve - Designated to Return, commonly known as IR-DTR or IR-DFR.

Each season, the NFL allots teams a total of eight IR spots that feature the ability for the player assigned to return to the field, once healthy.

The caveat is that the respective player must sit a minimum of four games (games, not weeks) before suiting back up, and anyone moved to IR but not tagged with the DTR label can not return until the following season (e.g., Malik Davis).

The current problem for the Cowboys is that they've only played five games but have already usedsix of their eight allotted IR-DTR seats.

The league caps the usage of them at two during final roster cutdowns, and Marist Liufau and rookie cornerback Devin Moore were moved into them ahead of the season. The subsequent additions have included All-Pro guard Tyler Smith (who has since returned to action), Jalen Thompson, P.J. Locke and Jonathan Bullard.

There are 12 games remaining in the regular season, but only two more opportunities for the Cowboys to move someone down the road to IR-DTR and, yes, that is concerning.

Relief will only arrive if, and only if, the Cowboys make the playoffs.

Should they accomplish that feat, they'll be awarded two additional IR-DTR spots ahead of the postseason for a total of 10 on the year. In other words, if the Cowboys were maxed out at eight before the tournament, but wanted to return a couple of guys that were healthy enough to return, they'd get the right to bring those two back in the playoffs (but only in the playoffs).

It could potentially explain the decision to carry DeMarvion Overshown on the active roster while he recovered from a hamstring injury to avoid running out of IR-DTR spots this early in the season or maybe they believed he'd be back on the field before now, but these are the types of decisions running out of IR-DTR spots force teams to make.

The same could be true of Cobie Durant, if he doesn't take the field on Sunday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers, something that is still very much to-be-determined. In other words, the Cowboys (and other teams in a similar situation) could end up carrying injured players on the active 53-man roster that might need roughly four games to get better, sacrificing playable talent in the process.

All told, if the injury bug doesn't get eradicated soon in Dallas, they'll be forced to make unexpected roster decisions, and particularly if they get to a point where no new additions to injured reserve are allowed to return in 2026.