Dallas Cowboys: 5 Cap casualty candidates for 2021 offseason
By Randy Gurzi
The Dallas Cowboys need to figure out how to get better in 2021 and in order to do so, they may need to make some cuts for salary cap purposes
With the Dallas Cowboys looking ahead to the 2021 offseason, we can be sure they’re considering just about every roster move imaginable. And part of their thought process will center around players who need to be let go due to salary cap concerns.
Dallas isn’t in any kind of cap trouble, but they need all the space they can get to continue to not pay Dak Prescott, which could leave the following five players in danger of losing their jobs.
As a side note, we will look at how the cap will be affected by each player’s release — and will see what the ramifications are if they are cut outright, or designated as a post-June 1 cut.
For further clarification, teams can designate two players as a post-June 1 cut which saves them money this season — although they are also still on the hook for some of the dead money the following season as well. There are still benefits to doing this, especially if the money is already in short supply. (All cap numbers and savings/dead space information is courtesy of OverTheCap.com.)
And with all that said, we jump right in with players who could be cap-casualties in Big D.
5. Chris Jones, Punter
Post-June 1 cut; Savings: $500,000; Dead money: $2 million
Pre-June 1 cut; Savings: $500,000; Dead money: $2 million
There was a time when Chris Jones was a folk hero in Dallas. Jones is rather fast for a punter, reportedly clocking in at 4.68 in the 40-yard dash. And there were two occasions where he showed off that speed.
One was in 2016 when he ran for 30 yards on a fake punt against the Eagles, and then in 2017, he ran it 24 yards on the Raiders. The run against Oakland got them out of their opponent’s territory and he was even credited with saving their season as they pulled out a win in a game that looked hopeless before his run.
Having said all that, two big runs in 10 seasons is no reason to keep a punter, especially when the savings are so great. And if Dallas were worried there would be a dip in performance, they were without Jones for eight games in 2020 and Hunter Niswander (who is massive at 6-foot-5 and 243-pounds) did just fine in his absence.