Ex-Cowboys $13.5 Million Starter Considered ‘Biggest’ Potential Cut

The Dallas Cowboys could be forced to make a tough cut prior to the start of the 2023 NFL season.

One of the “biggest” names who could be cut is none other than cornerback Jourdan Lewis, according to Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox.

After an injury in Week 7 ended Lewis’ season, Dallas replaced him in the nickel role with younger players, such as DaRon Bland, who emerged as one of the more impressive rookies last season, leading Dallas with five interceptions.

Even though Lewis, who turns 28 on August 31, has been a “solid contributor” since getting drafted in 2017, he is “coming off a Lisfranc injury that limited him to [six] games,” Knox wrote in a story published August 7. “He’s entering the final year of his contract, and the Cowboys might have found his long-term replacement in 2022 fifth-round pick DaRon Bland. Bland took over Lewis’ nickel role before moving to the outside later in the year to replace an injured Anthony Brown. He fared extremely well as a rookie starter, allowing an opposing passer rating of just 82.2 in coverage.”

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Cowboys Have Cheaper Option in DaRon Bland

Lewis has always been a reliable cornerback when in the lineup — he has started 43 of his 83 career appearances — but Dallas obviously has a viable (and much cheaper) potential replacement in Bland, who is due to earn less than $1 million this season as part of his four-year, $4 million rookie contract.

Lewis, meanwhile, is due to earn a shade under $5.9 million in the final season in his three-year, $13.5 million deal, making him the 11th highest paid player on Dallas’ roster. The Cowboys could release Lewis with a dead cap hit of just under $1.2 million while saving $4.7 million in the process.

Bland is literally the 53rd highest-paid player on the Cowboys’ roster even though he played the role of the No. 3 cornerback last season. That’s the definition of great value.

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Jourdan Lewis Recovering From Severe Lisfranc Injury

Further adding to the argument that Lewis is a likely candidate to be released is due to the severity of his injury. Not only does Lewis continue to recover from the injury he suffered during Week 7 of the 2022 season, his injury was deemed “one of the worst cases” of a Lisfranc injury.

“Given the severity of Lewis’ injury—David Moore of the Dallas Morning News reported that Lewis was told ‘one of the worst cases’ of a Lisfranc injury — he may not be able to contribute early in the regular season,” Knox wrote. “That could be enough to prompt Dallas to move on from him.”

While there could be many arguments made for the end of Lewis’ tenure in Dallas, one writer makes the argument that Lewis will remain on the Cowboys’ roster due to their previous injury issues at the position.

Matthew Holleran of SB Nation’s Blogging the Boys makes the argument that Lewis can still be an “important depth piece” for Dallas if either of the Cowboys’ starters, Trevon Diggs or Stephon Gilmore, goes down due to injury.

“As the Cowboys saw last year, you can never have enough cornerback depth,” writes Holleran. “Even with a somewhat crowded cornerback room, Lewis still will play an important depth role on the Dallas defense when he is healthy enough to return. DaRon Bland might start over Lewis, even if he is healthy, in the slot, but the seventh-year corner will still serve as an important depth piece on the defense. If Trevon Diggs or Gilmore were to go down with injuries, Bland could shift outside and Lewis could replace him in the slot.”

As training camp and the preseason progresses, we’ll see how much the Cowboys really value their depth at cornerback based upon whether or not they choose to retain Lewis.

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