The Dallas Cowboys have already had a whirlwind of an offseason thus far. The team finally moved on from Jason Garrett after he spent 10 years as the team's head coach.
To replace him, the Cowboys hired Mike McCarthy in hopes he could restore success back into the franchise. Aside from Garrett, Dallas basically cleaned house on their coaching staff.
One of the only remaining members of the coaching staff is Kellen Moore; who became the offensive coordinator in 2019. Moore helped the Cowboys boast the No. 1 offense in the NFL in 2019 in terms of yards gained.
Despite the effective offense, Dallas still failed to clinch a playoff berth in 2019. Now, this offseason will be a crucial one as the team has to decide on what to do with Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper, and Byron Jones.
With Prescott playing the most important position in the NFL, it's likely that he's back in 2020. As for Cooper and Jones, it's going to be nearly impossible for Dallas to retain both of them.
Heading into 2020, the Cowboys are expected to have nearly $78 million in cap space, according to Spotrac. Given the number of players headed for free agency, Dallas is undoubtedly going to make some roster moves. With that being said, here is one player that could be a surprising roster cut for the Cowboys this offseason.
Tyrone Crawford
The Cowboys' defense has been a somewhat formidable group in recent seasons. The one player that commonly gets overlooked on the defensive side of the ball is Tyrone Crawford.
The Cowboys drafted Crawford in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft out of Boise State. In his second season with the team, he finally became a mainstay on the defensive line.
From 2013-2018, Crawford accumulated 22 sacks, 29 tackles for loss, 55 quarterback hits, and three forced fumbles. While his numbers aren't jumping off the stat sheet, Crawford does plenty of things that don't appear on the box scores.
The Boise State product is mainly a run stopper in the center of Dallas' defensive line. Sadly for Crawford, the veteran defensive tackle underwent season-ending hip surgery in 2019.
As a result, Crawford was unable to participate in 12 games for the Cowboys. In the four games that he played in, Crawford totaled one sack, one tackle for loss, and three total tackles.
The eight-year veteran is set to enter his ninth season with the Cowboys and is a $9.1 million cap hit for the team in 2020. Therefore, Dallas could choose to part ways with the longtime defensive tackle in the offseason.
If the Cowboys were to release Crawford, they could free up $8 million in extra cap space. Upon releasing Crawford, Dallas would also be hit with a $1.1 million dead-cap penalty.
Then again, with Dallas having nearly $78 million in cap space, releasing players may not be needed for the Cowboys. However, if they need some more money to re-sign or sign players in free agency, Crawford could surprisingly be on his way out of Dallas.
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