Dallas Cowboys: Does Kerry Hyder make Tyrone Crawford expendable?

Kerry Hyder and Tyrone Crawford have similar skill sets but vastly different price tags – might this make Crawford an expendable commodity on the Dallas Cowboys?

The Dallas Cowboys struck gold this offseason when they inked defensive end Kerry Hyder to a modest one-year deal. The former Texas Tech lineman has had an up and down NFL career. Hyder went from team sack leader to league-wide afterthought in the matter of two years.

But the Dallas Cowboys top personnel man, Will McClay, always had an eye on the misused defensive end. And when Hyder hit the market with little to no fanfare, McClay and the Dallas Cowboys pounced, signing Hyder to a 1-year $1 million deal this past March.

It was hard for many to get very excited about Hyder when the deal was first done. After all, he had very little production over the past two seasons. But those who looked past his lost season in 2017 and understood his ill-fitting position change in 2018, saw a versatile player who could make a difference on this admittedly deep defensive end rotation.

At the salary cap cost of $10.1 million, Craw is the Dallas Cowboys second highest paid linemen, and sixth highest paid player on the team this season.

The only problem was – he’s strikingly similar to Dallas Cowboys mainstay, Tyrone Crawford.

Like Crawford, Hyder delivers an all-around game that holds up well to the running game, the screen game, and the traditional passing game. And like Crawford, Hyder offers a bit of position flex since he’s able to play base end as well as 3-technique defensive tackle.

Frankly, it’s hard NOT to see the redundancy.

That’s why when looking at the roster before camp, it looked like it could be an either/or situation between the two. The Dallas Cowboys have too many darn good defensive linemen on this team already.

After watching Kerry Hyder virtually dominate the preseason, it’s become clear – this bad man is making the team. And he’s probably going to log significant snaps since Randy Gregory and Robert Quinn begin this campaign on the commissioners suspended list.

The best part is, Hyder’s only on the books for a mil, making him a straight-up steal for the Dallas Cowboys. Tyrone Crawford, on the other hand, comes at a fairly hefty cost. At the salary cap cost of $10.1 million, Craw is the Dallas Cowboys second highest paid linemen, and sixth highest paid player on the team this season. That’s a full $9 million more than his doppelganger, Kerry Hyder.

Now Cowboys Nation has been trying to run Crawford out of town for years. And for years Crawford has been proving them wrong by performing as a top-2  defensive lineman on this squad. But suddenly the Cowboys are deep. Crazy deep. And suddenly they are young. And without enough roster spots to go around, something’s gotta give.

I proposed trading Taco Charlton just last Sunday. Taco’s never been playing better and finally has some value in this league. And without a regular spot available to him in the rotation, his value probably won’t get much better than it is right now. I mean, how many productive snaps can we expect him to get behind Tank, Armstrong, Hyder, and Crawford? How can he even be active when Robert Quinn and Randy Gregory are added to the team?

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Which is why some are questioning Crawford’s place on the team, as well. So is Crawford finally in jeopardy of losing his job?

The answer is no. You can never have too many well-rounded linemen and while younger and cheaper options are available, Crawford is too valuable to this unit to cut loose. Additionally, cutting Crawford would result in a $4.2 million cap hit of dead money.

Next season Crawford becomes expendable since he’ll be on the books for $9.1 and cutting him would only result in a $1.1 million penalty. But even then his exodus shouldn’t be seen as a foregone conclusion.

Crawford will only be 30-years old next season and with the market finally catching up to him and his once-overpriced contract, he’s no longer the overpaid player he once was. He’s pretty decent value.

There are obvious redundancies between Kerry Hyder and Tyrone Crawford but they are good redundancies. Expect both players to play vital roles in the rotation here in 2019.

• Published on 08/29/2019 at 12:30 PM
• Last updated at 08/29/2019 at 11:57 AM