Dallas Cowboys: Why IR makes sense for Terrance Williams
By Reid Hanson
It’s both risky and cost-prohibitive for the Cowboys to cut receiver Terrance Williams, but what about banishing him to injured reserve?
The Dallas Cowboys are at a cross-roads with sixth-year receiver, Terrance Williams. Already hanging on the roster by thread, T-dub found himself in trouble this weekend when he was picked up for public intoxication (amongst possibly other charges).
Terrance Williams is coming off the worst season of his career, and at nearly 29-years old, many have given up hope he will every develop into a reliable weapon. But Williams finds himself in a unique situation in Dallas these days. And that’s why a trip to injured reserve makes some unconventional sense.
Don’t forget the finances
It seems the only thing that’s spared Williams has been the details of his contract. They make him more expensive to cut him than it would be to keep him. I talked about it here earlier today.
Even if you decide you can afford to cut him, you also have to come to grips with the risk involved. They say the devil you know…
Cutting Terrance Williams is risky
Cutting Terrance Williams isn’t without risk. Williams may not be our favorite player these days but he’s at the very least a proven player capable of holding down the Z spot. Besides him, the only player the Dallas Cowboys can really bank on in 2018 is Allen Hurns (as long as he can stay healthy) and possibly Cole Beasley.
We THINK Noah Brown can take the next step this season. And we HOPE Michael Gallup and Cedric Wilson can contribute right away. But it wouldn’t be overly surprising if they couldn’t. Nor would it be surprising if Hurns was hurt.
Since there is the very realistic possibly all of this could happen, it’s undeniably risky to cut bait with Terrance Williams no matter how low you are on the guy. That’s why…
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IR = Insurance
IR, or injured Reserve, is a designation a team uses to retain an injured player, without having to use a 53-man roster spot. Previously, if you found yourself on IR, you were excluded for the entire season. But now you can return a player halfway through the season.
If the Cowboys liked what they saw from their young pass-catchers in training camp, they could decide to place Williams on the IR. They would roll the dice with those young players, and if things went wrong in the regular season, they could bring Williams back mid-season.
It’s not ideal but it allows the Dallas Cowboys to keep Hurns, Beasley, Brown, Gallup, Thompson, and Wilson (and Tavon Austin WR/RB). Plus they’d save some money in the process since they wouldn’t have to absorb the extra $2,500,000 it would cost to cut Williams.
If they need him they have him stashed away. If they don’t they’re no worse for the wear. Best yet, they have time to assess their talent at receiver while Williams recovers from offseason surgery. Williams should technically be back for the end of training camp, but a savvy move like this may take advantage of a situation and use it to the team’s benefit.
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The Dallas Cowboys have plenty of time to decide their next move, but the smartest and safest move may prove to be placing Terrance Williams on IR. It gives them flexibility and insurance. Best yet, it won’t cost them a dime more to keep him around to next year.