Football is a young man’s game. In today’s NFL, the way the salary cap is structured makes that statement all the more relevant. Players are not rewarded for what they have done in the past but instead are cast aside when their performance dwindles, health deteriorates, a younger and cheaper replacement becomes available, or if the team simply wishes to go in a different direction. In order to remain competitive, teams are forced to make business decisions to manage their roster within the salary cap. The cruel reality is that every year players become salary cap casualties and get cut from their respective teams for this purpose. The Dallas Cowboys salary cap situation has improved dramatically from years past but they are not immune to this aspect of roster management. The Cowboys front office must prepare to sign long term contracts for core young players such as Demarcus Lawrence, Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and Amari Cooper. In preparation for those plans, here are the most likely candidates to become salary cap casualties for the Dallas Cowboys in 2019.
SEAN LEE, LINEBACKER
Only one year ago Sean Lee was considered the most valuable and irreplaceable defensive starter on the Dallas Cowboys roster. Every time he would be out of the lineup, the Cowboys defense would completely fall apart. The problem with Sean Lee was that he was out of the lineup far too often and because of that the Dallas Cowboys drafted young players like Jaylon Smith and Leigthon Vander Esch. Suddenly, those two young players have become the best young linebacking duo in the NFL and when Sean Lee missed time last season, nobody seemed to notice. Sean Lee had considered retiring at the end of this season but has decided he wants to come back for another year. He will turn 33 this season and is set to count $10,075,000.00 against the salary cap. If the Dallas Cowboys decide to cut Sean Lee they would incur a $3.075 million dead money cap hit but save $7 million. Unless Sean Lee would agree to take a massive pay cut, AND accept a reduced role, the Dallas Cowboys will surely make him a cap casualty in 2019.
TYRONE CRAWFORD, DEFENSIVE END
There is a strong contingent of fans that feel that Tyrone Crawford is overpaid. I am not one of those fans. He is a valuable member of the team who brings leadership and position versatility. In addition to that, he is a solid run defender and he does a lot of the dirty work that does not show up on the stat sheets. Despite his immense value, he is costing the Dallas Cowboys $10,100,100.00 against the salary cap and he will turn 30 in November. If the Cowboys front office decided to cut Crawford prior to June 1st they would save $5.9 million and incur $4.2 million in dead money. However, if they waited until post June 1st to cut him, they would save $7 million while only incurring $3 million in dead money. Considering how thin the Cowboys are at defensive tackle and because Crawford is a team captain, I do not anticipate that he would be cut this season. Although, depending on a variety of factors including the teams performance in 2019, the outcome may be quite different in 2020.
LA’EL COLLINS, OFFENSIVE TACKLE
La’el Collins had his ups and downs last season but he finished the season strong after Marc Columbo replaced Paul Alexander as offensive line coach. Collins is a 1st round talent but he does not come cheap. His current salary is costing the Cowboys nearly $10 million against the salary cap. If the Dallas Cowboys were to cut Collins they would save $8.5 million and only incur a dead cap hit of $1.4 million. Enticing as it would be to free up that much money it would be a foolish move on the part of the Cowboys front office. The offensive line is the bread and butter of the offense and the Cowboys need to solidify that unit at all costs. Although they already have a ton of money tied up in Tyron Smith, Zack Martin and Travis Frederick it might be a wise move to extend Collins and possibly create some short term salary cap savings.
ALLEN HURNS, WIDE RECEIVER
Allen Hurns seems like a real standup guy and well respected teammate. He suffered and gruesome season ending injury last season and my heart goes out to him as I wish him a full and speedy recovery. Putting emotion aside though, his on the field performance was not worthy of the contract that he was signed for. This year, Hurns will count $6.25 million against the salary cap but the Cowboys could save $5 million by parting ways with Hurns. If Hurns can return from his injury, a fair argument exists that he could have an expanded role with Kellen Moore the new offensive coordinator. The safer bet would be to part ways with Hurns and use the savings toward extending one of their star players or potentially shopping for an upgrade at safety (Earl Thomas) or wide receiver (Golden Tate).
TERRANCE WILLIAMS, WIDE RECEIVER
Terrance Williams is only costing the Cowboys $4.75 million against the salary cap in 2019. If the Cowboys were to cut him they would only save $2.25 million while incurring a $2.5 million dead money cap hit. After June 1st, the savings would increase to $3.5 million with $1.25 in dead money. That is not a huge amount of savings for a veteran player and yet I would do it in a heart beat. T-Will has always been inconsistent on the field. Aside from being a body catcher, he was known for making crucial mistakes such as not running out of bounds against the Giants in week 1 of 2016. Worse still, is that he did not seem to learn from it as he made the same mistake only a few weeks later. Couple that with all the off the field issues that Williams has been involved in that past year or two and the writing should be on the wall. I would be shocked if Terrance Williams was still a member of the Dallas Cowboys in 2019.
That is the complete list of the Dallas Cowboys salary cap casualties for 2019. To recap, Sean Lee, Allen Hurns and Terrance Williams are the players that should be cut and Tyrone Crawford and La’el Collins should be spared. Hopefully, the Dallas Cowboys can take advantage of the $15+ million in savings to bring America’s Team another step closer to a long overdue Super Bowl victory.
*Photo by Kieth Allison http:// https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
**All data obtained and verified through https://overthecap.com/