Dallas Cowboys: 5 Potential cap casualties in 2019
By Randy Gurzi
Joe Thomas, LB
One of the less discussed moves this offseason was when the Cowboys signed Joe Thomas away from the Green Bay Packers. While it didn’t garner much attention, it was a smart move by Dallas. After losing Anthony Hitchens to the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency, they knew they needed to add depth to their linebacker corps.
Thomas proved with the Packers to be a reliable player when called upon. He had seven starts in 2016 and recorded 53 tackles that year while adding an interception. In Dallas, they originally considered him an option to replace Sean Lee if he suffered another injury, but the presence of rookie linebacker ended up making that unnecessary.
That resulted in Thomas being primarily a special teams weapon. He played in 10 games and finished with 14 tackles. While he was solid on coverage units, that’s not much production for someone set to make $2.3 million this coming season. Should Dallas decide to terminate his contract early, that could save them $2 million.
With Chris Covington having a full season under his belt now, there’s a good chance they could as the former Indiana star to fill in for Thomas and save themselves some money in the process.