The Landry Hat
Fansided

Did the Dallas Cowboys plan on taking these calculated offseason risks?

By Terence Watson

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 26: Amari Cooper #19 and Michael Gallup #13 of the Dallas Cowboys on the sidelines during a game against the Washington Football Team at AT&T Stadium on December 26, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys defeated the Football Team 56-14. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 26: Amari Cooper #19 and Michael Gallup #13 of the Dallas Cowboys on the sidelines during a game against the Washington Football Team at AT&T Stadium on December 26, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys defeated the Football Team 56-14. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
Cowboys, Anthony Brown
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – NOVEMBER 25: Anthony Brown #30 of the Dallas Cowboys sits in the end zone after being penalized for pass interference during the first quarter of the NFL game between Las Vegas Raiders and Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on November 25, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images) /

More easy cuts the Cowboys could make

The Cowboys have already restructured the contracts of quarterback Dak Prescott and guard Zack Martin creating almost $22 million dollars to get under the cap. Those aren’t the only moves that we could see coming soon. Dallas has three more players that they can release to create more salary-cap space.

Those players are cornerback Anthony Brown, kicker Greg Zuerlein, and tight end Blake Jarwin. Taking a deeper look, it seems like the Cowboys have already prepared for these cuts with moves made last season.

For Brown, the Cowboys used a second-round pick on Kelvin Joseph who was out most of the season with a groin injury. You aren’t spending that high of a pick on a player if you don’t plan on playing him. It also didn’t help that Brown was beaten quite a bit last season and had a high volume of penalties. Dallas also has Nashon Wright who they really like.

Cutting Brown would save the Cowboys $5 million.

Zuerlein dug his grave deeper and deeper with each extra point and field goal missed last season. So much so that right after the season ended the Cowboys brought in kicker Chris Naggar to compete with him next season. The Cowboys also have the luxury of having a pretty deep kicker market in the draft so they should be able to find a replacement if they want to go that route. Cutting Zuerlein would save the Cowboys almost $2.5 million

The last one is just bad luck as Jarwin was really starting to come along for the Cowboys before his ACL injury that forced Dalton Schultz into the spotlight and made Jarwin expendable. It also didn’t help that Jarwin was hurt again in 2021 with a hip injury. The Cowboys recently decided to franchise tag Schultz to keep a target that Prescott favors, but don’t expect the Cowboys to stop there with a very deep tight end class in this draft. Jarwin isn’t what he used to be and could be an easy cut.

Cutting Jarwin saves the Cowboys almost $4 million.

This is all speculation of course. But it almost seems as though Jones and his team were planning on some of these decisions far ahead of February.

Next. To Cut or Not to Cut? What Should Dallas Do With These Players?. dark

Home/Cowboys Free Agency