Contracts Cowboys Must Consider Cutting in 2024 Offseason
With the Super Bowl LVIII matchup set, 30 NFL teams are plotting to reach the big game in 2024. The Dallas Cowboys, who saw their season end in the wild-card round, are among them.
Dallas boasts one of the league's more impressive rosters, but it does have some flaws. Additionally, the Cowboys have some looming contract decisions to make on quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
With a projected cap deficit of $14.3 million, Dallas will have to clear some cap space this offseason to field the team it wants in 2024 and beyond. With this in mind, let's examine three contracts the Cowboys must consider cutting this offseason.
WR Michael Gallup
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Parting with wide receiver Michael Gallup should be a relatively easy decision for the Cowboys, though they'd probably prefer a trade to an outright release.
Gallup signed a ive-year, $57.5 million extension just two years ago but has struggled to live up to his deal. He finished the 2023 season with just 34 catches for 418 yards and two touchdowns.
The 27-year-old wasn't much more productive in 2022 (424 yards, 4 TDs), though he was coming off a torn ACL during that campaign.
With Lamb entering the fifth and final season of his rookie deal—and presumably set to be a long-term piece of the puzzle—Dallas should look to get younger (and cheaper) at the other receiver spots.
Lamb is sure to command one of the richest receiver contracts in the league sooner than later.
Releasing Gallup with a post-June 1 designation would save $9.5 million in cap space while triggering a dead-cap hit of only $4.4 million.
WR Brandin Cooks
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Parting with Brandin Cooks could be a little tougher to swallow, as the Cowboys just acquired him last offseason. However, the price wasn't high—Dallas parted with a 2023 fifth-round pick and a 2024 sixth-rounder—so it wouldn't be a total disaster.
Cooks was a decent No. 2 receiver behind Lamb, and he saw a bigger role in the offense than Gallup. However, his numbers weren't overly impressive, as the 30-year-old finished with 657 yards and eight touchdowns.
With tight end Jake Ferguson stepping up as Prescott's secondary target (761 yards, 5 TDs), Cooks should be considered expendable at his current price point. The oft-traded wideout is set to carry a cap hit of $10 million.
A contract restructuring or extension could make more sense for the Cowboys since Cooks is entering the final year of his contract. That would allow Dallas to keep the veteran mentor in its receiver room.
However, releasing Cooks with a post-June 1 designation would save $8 million in cap space.
LB Leighton Vander Esch
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It would be fairly surprising to see the Cowboys allow linebacker Leighton Vander Esch to finish the two-year contract he signed last offseason.
For one, Dallas needs to improve its linebacker corps and a defense that has been vulnerable to the run over the past few seasons. Secondly, Vander Esch has struggled to stay healthy. He was limited to five games in 2023 by a neck injury.
Vander Esch was productive when healthy—he logged 30 tackles and a defensive touchdown in his five appearances—but Dallas simply can't count on him to stay on the field. Given his history of neck injuries, Vander Esch may also have to consider stepping away from football.
"The nature of his potential injury here causes me to really think longer term and beyond what it means for next week or beyond what it means for next month," franchise owner Jerry Jones told 105.3 The Fan (h/t ESPN's Todd Archer).
Releasing Vander Esch would trigger a dead-cap hit of $2.3 million but also save $2.1 million in 2024 cap space.
*Cap and contract information via Spotrac.
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