The Dallas Cowboys will enter the 2020 offseason with plenty of cap space available but an unusually long list of free agents. Compound that with the expiring contracts of Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper, Byron Jones (among others) and they will really have to spend their money wisely. That being said, among those players currently under contract, there are some unfavorable salary cap figures that may require some restructuring or in some cases outright cutting players from the roster. Here are the most likely Dallas Cowboys cap casualty candidates and my thoughts on whether or not these players will be retained, resigned on restructured deals, or let go entirely.
3. CHRIS JONES, P
Chris Jones is set to count $2.4 million against the salary cap this season but would only cost $1 million in dead money if the Dallas Cowboys were to release him. With $1.4 million in savings, the Cowboys could easily find a replacement at league minimum and still end up ahead. Chris Jones has struggled the last couple of seasons but in fairness so has the rest of the Dallas Cowboys special teams. I may be alone in this line of thought but I would recommend finding a way to keep Jones on the roster. First of all, the Dallas Cowboys don’t save that much by letting him go. In addition to that, with the hiring of special teams guru/master of the fake punt John Fassel AND Chris Jones being an exceptional athlete, I would be interested to see what Jones can do under his new special teams coach.
2. CAMERON FLEMMING, OT
Financially speaking, it makes a lot of sense for the Dallas Cowboys to move on from Cameron Flemming. He will cost them over $5 million against the salary cap and they could create $4.5 million in free cap space by cutting him. His contract is also quite hefty considering that he is a back up. The reason that the Dallas Cowboys might hesitate to let him go is that they may be concerned about the short term and long term health of Tyron Smith who has missed games in each of the last 4 seasons. After witnessing the impact of losing Smith and trying to replace him with a player that is vastly inferior (refer to Chaz Green, Dallas Cowboys VS Atlanta Falcons, Nov 12, 2017), I am inclined to believe the Dallas Cowboys will keep Flemming around as a security blanket. I believe that the Dallas Cowboys will retain Cameron Flemming and he will not become a cap casualty. I am also curious to see if the new coaching staff has a different point of view on this. Will a Mike McCarthy coached team be equally handcuffed with the loss of their best tackle or would they have a better in game contingency plan than the previous regime did?
1. TYRONE CRAWFORD, DT/DE
Tyrone Crawford has been criticized by many Dallas Cowboys over the years based on the amount of money he makes. Despite that criticism, he has been one of the more valuable and underrated players on the team due to his position versatility, hard work, effectiveness against the run, and team leadership. Tyrone Crawford remains one of my favorite Dallas Cowboys and I would love to see the team bring back the kid from Windsor, Ontario, Canada while the defense transitions from a pure 4-3 Tampa 2 to a more hybrid 4-3, 3-4 scheme. Crawford has experience playing in both and can play inside and outside all along the defensive line. Unfortunately, his current cap hit of $9.1 million can be reduced by $8 million if the Dallas Cowboys do decide to part ways with him. It is not justifiable to continue with the current contract structure with the potential monster contracts of Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper looming large over the organization. To make matters worse for Crawford he had a very rough 2019 season both and off the field and his is no longer spring chicken. Crawford was undoubtedly a favorite of both Jason Garrett and Rod Marinelli but the new regime may be reluctant to hang on to some of the veterans players like Crawford, Sean Lee, and Jason Witten. I am not optimistic about the chances that Tyrone Crawford will remain with the Dallas Cowboys in 2020 but one never knows how this will all play out.
*Photo by Kieth Allison KA Sports Photos https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
**All data and statistics obtained and verified through https://www.pro-football-reference.com/
***All contract figures and data pertaining the salary cap obtained and verified through https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/dallas-cowboys/