The Dallas Cowboys, just like their state counterpart Houston Texans, have a bit of a quarterback dilemma on their hands. But their situation involving Dak Prescott is much, much, much more amicable than what Houston has done to themselves with Deshaun Watson.
The free agency of Prescott will be a very interesting storyline to follow this offseason, especially if there is no long-term agreement that both sides come to. If Prescott ends up playing on the franchise tag in 2021, then the writing seems to be very much on the wall for his eventual departure from the Lone Star State.
Sitting a little bit over $194 million in current cap responsibilities, according to Overthecap.com, the Cowboys are close to being under the projected $180 million salary-cap figure for this upcoming league year, but that figure does not factor in either their incoming draft class contracts or any outside players brought in via free agency, which includes Prescott.
Being in a boat just like all 32 teams in the league, the financial side of the team’s salary cap sheets will be the most volatile in years, and Dallas’ chances at finally getting back to the top of the NFC East hinges on their abilities to 1) bring Prescott back, especially if on a long-term deal, and 2) field a competitive team without hurting their cash flow down the road.
With the impending craziness for this upcoming offseason, The Cowboys certainly could look to cutting some pricier players to free up valuable space – here are some top candidates if they decide to go that route.
Likely Cut Candidates
The defensive side of the ball is what is hurting the Cowboys the most, as they have been fielding a unit that was extremely susceptible to the run. Last year alone, that side of the ball allowed the second-most rushing yards (2,541), only beat out by 23 yards by the Texans for worst.
They allowed 20 rushing scores, five yards per carry, and 142 rushing first downs, showing that teams were willing to run all over them, regardless of down, distance, or circumstance. And with their current roster build, that aspect of the defense seems hard-pressed to change.
Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence holds a cap number of $25 million himself, accounting for almost 12 percent of the total cap commitments for this team in ‘21. While the 29-year-old certainly has earned that contract and will not be going anywhere, it makes other potential defensive members more likely to be moved.
Fellow pass rusher Randy Gregory, who has been suspended multiple times for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, and cornerback Anthony Brown could factor into some Cowboys personnel movement at some point this offseason with their current salaries. Neither currently are on large deals, as Gregory is set to make $2 million and Brown is on the books for $5.75 million, but chipping away at lowering the cap is never a bad thing to do.
Gregory could be cut whenever this offseason, as his $1.9 million in savings against a $100k dead money totals will not change. But for Brown, he could be designated as a post-June 1 cut to help lighten the load of his departure – if cut before June 1, Brown would save the team $2.75 million with a dead-cap figure of $3 million, but if cut after that date, Brown would help save Dallas $4.25 million against a dead-money figure of $1.5 million.
On the offensive side of the ball, it gets a bit dicier.
The cap maneuvers that will need to be done (with Prescott’s monster one-year or long-term deal in mind) will most likely come at the expense of at least one offensive piece, which currently could involve Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith or wide receiver Michael Gallup.
Smith’s eight-year, $97.6 million deal (signed back in 2014) was signed seemingly as a no-brainer, as the USC product was an absolute road grader for this team. But having missed all but two games last season, combined with having missed at least two games every season since the 2016 season, Smith’s production has taken a bit of a dip.
If the team decided to move on from (their current offensive line depth chart says that is unlikely), then Smith’s contract would be best cut after June 1. Over $8.8 million in dead money versus $5.16 million in savings for a pre-June 1 cut, compared to $3.525 million of dead money and $10.5 million in cap savings paints a pretty clear picture if Dallas chose to move on from their LT on the wrong side of 30.
For Gallup, he is currently the third-highest WR on this Cowboys team, behind Amari Cooper ($22M in ‘21) and CeeDee Lamb ($3.18M in ‘21), coming in at a $2.6 million salary for this upcoming season. With the team drafting Lamb last year in head coach Mike McCarthy’s first year at the helm, it was obvious that even though WR was not a need, they knew how they board fell and who Jerry Jones obviously wanted, which could push Gallup out of town as soon as this offseason.
Entering into the final year of his rookie deal, Gallup holds a gross savings of over $2.1 million if cut, regardless of before or after June 1. While Cooper and Lamb are more than capable of holding down the WR1 and 2 slots on this team, having Gallup there as a third option was very helpful for Prescott and Andy Dalton.
Of these four suggested Cowboys players, Smith would be the most surprising to be cut, while Gregory and Brown seem more likely. The 28-year-old pass rusher could be brought back on a cheap, prove-it deal (which could help push for a move), and even though corners Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis, as well as safety Xavier Woods, are all free agents this offseason, cutting Brown loose could help move funds towards bringing at least one of these players back.
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