Dallas Cowboys Breaking Bad (contracts): 2019 Edition

DE/DT Tyrone Crawford

Every year Tyrone Crawford makes this list and every year he lives to fight another day. Such is life as one of the most overpaid players on the Dallas Cowboys roster. But simply calling him overpaid ignores how accidently valuable he repeatedly proves to be.

Granted the Dallas Cowboys signed him to be the next great under tackle. If you remember, they let Jason Hatcher walk away in 2014 because they were convinced Craw could be their double-digit sack man in the middle. Since then Crawford’s only been able to tally a combined 22 sacks in five seasons (4.4 per season). Not exactly the production you’d expect from a $10 million per season veteran.

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Where Crawford has repeatedly proved his worth is in his solid, if unspectacular, play and in his tremendous versatility. Over the past few seasons (including last year), Crawford has proven to be the Dallas Cowboys second-best defensive linemen. No matter what role he’s forced into, Craw handles his business and performs as a top-2 lineman.

Cutting Crawford this season will bring his cost down from $10.1 million to $4.2 million.

It’s a savings but can the Dallas Cowboys realistically replace his production for the meager $5.9 million? Not likely. And with David Irving most assuredly out the door (either in free agency or in suspension), the Dallas Cowboys are once again thin at the 3-technique.

Even if Maliek Collins has a strong offseason and even if the Dallas Cowboys invest a top-100 pick in a DT, my money says Tyrone Crawford comes back to play one more year with the Dallas Cowboys.