The Dallas Cowboys head into the 2022 NFL offseason with the third least projected cap space in the league (-$21 million) and need to make improvements to a roster that was playoff-worthy in 2021 but fell short of a postseason victory yet again. The Cowboys have won just four playoff games since 1995, in contrast, the New England Patriots have won seven Super Bowls in that span. The Cowboys do, however, have a rich playoff history including five Super Bowl victories, tied for the most in NFC history.
If Dallas wants to get back to their winning ways, the first thing they need to do is create some cap space for free agency and then for the 2022 NFL draft. People tend to forget that even a team with minimal draft picks must still allocate nearly $5 million towards their available draft class. Right now, the Cowboys could sign neither any free agents nor any of their incoming 2022 picks. While it will take more than just one cut and contact restructure to get this team in a position to add the talent that they need to take the next step, we were still able to find one player that Dallas could move on from that would free up a huge amount of space and get the ball rolling on their offseason.
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Dallas Cowboys: 1 player who could be a surprise roster cut
Amari Cooper
Amari Cooper has just $6 million in guaranteed money still owed to him and his cap number of $22 million might be untenable for a number two receiver. A couple of years ago, Cooper was able to fetch a pretty penny on the open market when he was traded from the (then) Oakland Raiders to the Cowboys. Now, with his huge contract, injury issues, and general lack of production in 2021, it is hard to see any team giving up a pick just so they could pay Cooper that type of money. Most likely, Cooper will be shopped before and during the draft and will probably get no takers. Then the Cowboys will have a decision to make, do they designate Cooper as a “post-June-first cut” and save $20 million against the 2022 salary cap, or do you bite the bullet and ride with Cooper for one more year? The latter option might be more viable for the Cowboys if they can find some other players to cut because they now have Cooper on a series of one-year $20 million options for the next three seasons.
But, if the team cannot find the cash from other places on the roster, Cooper could get the aforementioned “post-June-first cut.” The Cowboys also have wide receiver Michael Gallup returning from an injury but he is on the free-agent market as well. The most likely scenario has the Cowboys getting Gallup to return on a cheaper deal due to the injury, however, we have seen players coming off of injury, like Allen Robinson, and still strike it rich on the open market. All it takes is one team to love Gallup enough that it drives his price up. Although Gallup has been a backup to Cooper since the latter arrived on the team a few years back, he will be the one with all of the eyes on him this offseason as Cooper's fate may be resting in Gallup's hands because the more Dallas pays for Gallup the less likely they are to keep Cooper around.
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