Could a Bills’ salary cap casualty bring the sauce back to the Cowboys?

According to the good people at Over The Cap, there are 11 teams who are currently over the 2022 salary cap, including the Dallas Cowboys. The Buffalo Bills are among that group and as it stands, they are projected to be around $6.3 million over. With teams starting to dump salary before the new league year, the time has come to look at potential cap casualties.

Yes, I understand that the Cowboys limit themselves in free agency and they are further down the line when it comes to cap space compared to Buffalo. But, unlike Dallas, Buffalo only has three players that can give the Bills $5 million or more on a contract restructure. Comparatively, Dallas has seven players under contract whose restructure would give the team $5 million or more in cap space.

If Buffalo wants to get out of the red and decide to pursue free agents, they are going to have to make some roster changes. One of those changes could push a very familiar name back into the open market. Teams usually have to keep about $10 million of cap space to sign their rookie draft class, so Buffalo has to account for that as well.

Buffalo could restructure the contracts of wide receiver Stefon Diggs and defensive back Tre’Davious White but that only gives them around $13.3 million in cap room, which is just outside what they need for salary cap constraints and draft signings. Bills starting center Mitch Morse and safety Jordan Poyer are also potential cap casualties.

However, the Bills’ most beneficial move could be for them to release wide receiver Cole Beasley. Is the money cutting him could save worth it to Buffalo?

Could the Bills cut Cole Beasley to save cap space? And if they do, will the Cowboys pick him up to stage a reunion?

The soon-to-be 33-year-old is in the last year of his four-year, $29 million contract with Buffalo. Beasley could give the Bills about $6.1 million in cap relief leaving only $1.5 million in dead cap space. That means Buffalo could get close to salary cap compliance and give Beasley a head start in the free agency period with just one move.

Beasley was outspoken in his opposition to vaccine mandates in 2021, and it often shifted focus away from his on-field exploits. Understandably, signing him could be more controversial now than during his previous tenure in Dallas. How much will the Cowboys front office allow him to speak freely on what he believes in? How much of a public backlash would his signing cause? These are all valid questions if a reunion is on the horizon.

Right now, the Cowboys have a stable full of prototypical wide receivers, so it would be nice to see the Dallas offense put a different kind of stress on a defense. We all know Beasley in the slot is a nightmare to defend. His skill-set could help in the middle of the field if tight end Dalton Schultz is not retained. Michael Gallup and Cedrick Wilson are also unrestricted free agents whose futures in Dallas are currently unknown.

Beasley back to Dallas could conjure up bad memories for some, but the former SMU product could actually be a great short-term replacement for wide receiver Michael Gallup. If you feel like we are running around in circles it’s because we are. Gallup was drafted in 2018 which is the last year Beasley played in Dallas. The following year, Beasley signed with Buffalo and Gallup had a career year replacing him in yards (1107), catches (66), and touchdowns (6). Now there is a scenario where Beasley could return to Dallas in order to replace Gallup.

Monetarily, signing Cole Beasley may make more sense for the Cowboys rather than shelling out big numbers for Michael Gallup

I would love for Dallas to keep Michael Gallup, but his market value varies depending on who you ask. Some say Gallup has out-priced himself in Dallas while others think a one-year deal coming off injury is well within reach. This is where Beasley comes in. Beasley was set to make a base salary of $4.9 million or the highest base salary of the life of his current deal. The various bonus money attached to his deal could push his cap number up to $7.6 million.

There are very few teams who would sign Gallup at that price. If we are talking about building a team, it probably isn’t a good idea for a team so close to the cap to pay a significant amount of money for three wide receivers. Beasley’s age and familiarity could allow the Cowboys to bring back the man who used to “sauce his cleats” after every score back to Dallas for far less than it will probably take to keep Gallup.

Beasley also returns punts and is a former high school quarterback, so John “Bones” Fassel could use him as a Cedrick Wilson special teams replacement if Wilson is not retained either. Inexpensive and versatile should be enough for the front office to have the conversation despite his previous outgoing comments.

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In his three years in Buffalo, Beasley had more catches (216) than Gallup (160), more receiving yards, (2,438 to 2,395), and was available for more games (46) than Gallup (39) too. This is by no means a shot at Gallup as you can clearly see how productive Gallup is despite being out with injury. It just seems fitting that three years ago, many Cowboys fans had the same feeling for Beasley as they currently have for Gallup.

If he does indeed leave Dallas, who better a Gallup replacement than the person Gallup replaced? It would be quite an offseason move from both teams, but anything is possible in NFL free agency.