Dallas Cowboys: 5 veterans likely playing their last season in Dallas
By Reid Hanson
The Dallas Cowboys are about to embark on their 62nd season, and there’s a lot of reasons to be excited. Not only do they boast arguably the best offense in the NFL, but they have what appears to be a much improved defense and are competing in possibly the worst division in football.
The stars seem to be aligning for the Cowboys this year and a playoff run isn’t just a hope, it’s expected. A clean bill of health to key players, new coaches, and new players make this sudden leap possible. But with every addition inevitably comes a subtraction. And based on team roles and contract situations, we can identify five players who are probably playing their last season in Dallas.
This is likely the last season for these five Dallas Cowboys veterans…
We start with a crowded position group full of unknown variables, cornerback
Jourdan Lewis, CB
2022 contract status: $4,666,666
The cornerback situation can fall a number of different ways depending on how a number of people perform this year. It will ultimately come down to how healthy Anthony Brown is, and how Nahshon Wright and Kelvin Joseph develop. If either of the rookies can claim the starting outside spot opposite Diggs, and Anthony Brown can stay healthy, things don’t bode well for Lewis.
Brown has inside/outside versatility and consistently grades better than Lewis, a player who’s generally limited to the slot. Speaking of slot, Maurice Canady has been the best of all slot performers this summer. Like Brown, the 6-foot-1 Canady has inside/outside skill and seems to be much more valuable to this defense than Lewis.
At the end of the day, if everyone plays close to their expected standards, there probably isn’t a place left for Lewis unless he moves to a FS like once was Damontae Kazee. Yes, Dallas just signed Lewis to a multi-year deal this past offseason, but that was before they added either of the rookies and before they knew what they had in Canady. You don’t normally pay your CB4 or CB5 the kind of money Lewis is getting.
Cutting Lewis after this year will cost $2.3M against the cap but will also save them $2.3M.