Dallas Cowboys: 3 Possible surprise cuts in 2019
By Randy Gurzi
3. Chris Jones, P
As is always the case with a player who would be considered a surprise cut, Chris Jones can still play at a high level for the Dallas Cowboys. However, there’s a chance they can save some money and get similar production from a younger player if they decided to move on from the veteran southpaw.
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Heading into 2019, Jones is scheduled to count $2.3 million against the cap, which is a lot of money for a punter. On top of that, he’s also dropped some in his production during this past year. Jones had less than 40-yards net average per punt for the first time since 2014 and also had just 17 kicks downed inside the 20 — down from 34 the previous year.
There’s a precedent for this move as well as the Cowboys cut a special teams ace in 2018 in a cap move as Brett Maher was surprisingly kept around while they showed Dan Bailey the door. Dallas felt with that move they could do just as well while saving roughly $3 million. And they were proven right as Maher (80.6 percent) was better than Bailey (75 percent) in 2018.
Should they decide to make a similar move with Jones, they could save an estimated $800,000 as a pre-June 1 cut and a whopping $1.8 million as a post-June 1 cut. His designation, should they make this move, would depend on what they do with the rest of their moves as teams are allowed to dedicate just two players as a post-June 1 cut.