Tyrone Crawford almost certainly played his final snap with the Dallas Cowboys, and perhaps even his final snap in the NFL.
The veteran defensive end and impending free agent is mulling retirement, according to SI’s Mike Fisher, who reported on Crawford prior to Sunday’s regular-season finale — a 23-19 defeat to the Giants that officially eliminated Dallas from playoff contention.
Fisher indicated the loss may catalyze Crawford’s decision to call it quits.
“The Dallas Cowboys, in New York today hoping for a win and a chance to extend their way into the playoffs, hope this NFL Week 17 Sunday doesn’t mark their final game of the season. But if it does, it might mean the final game of stalwart defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford’s career,” he wrote.
“Crawford, 31, is considering retirement following the 2020 season, a possible closing of the book of a nine-year career that has seen him serve as a versatile “big daddy” leader of the Dallas defensive line.”
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D-Law Unsure of Crawford’s Plans
The Cowboys surprisingly retained Crawford for the 2020 campaign despite his $9.1 million salary-cap number and acquisition of defensive linemen Gerald McCoy, Everson Griffen, and Bradlee Anae as rotating (would-be) bookends to $105 million pass-rusher DeMarcus Lawrence.
Crawford appeared in all 16 games, making three starts, but registered just seven solo tackles, four quarterback hits, and two sacks across 445 defensive snaps (40.27%). He was used in a rotation with Anae, Dorance Armstrong, and Ron’Dell Carter after McCoy was lost to injury and Griffen was traded.
The Cowboys hold the No. 10 overall pick in the 2021 draft, premium capital that could (should?) be allocated to the defensive line. Financially, it makes little sense for the team to re-sign Crawford. Personnel-wise, it makes even less.
“I don’t know what his decision is yet, …but I already know he’ll be good at whatever he’s stepping into next,” Lawrence said of Crawford, via the Dallas Morning News.
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Smith Addresses 2021
The season ending at East Rutherford spawned predictable questions concerning the Cowboys’ highest-paid or most ballyhooed players. Linebacker Jaylon Smith checks both boxes, and he got the appropriate treatment.
Asked if he expects to return to Dallas in 2021, Smith took the high road to Non-Answer Ville.
“Me? I mean, watch the film. … The guys that know football and know our scheme and watch film, um, I don’t have to speak on myself. It’s all love,” he told reporters Sunday, via The Athletic.
Smith, who led the defense with 154 total tackles this season, is under contract through 2025, his age-30 campaign. He should return in his starting capacity, at a scheduled cost of $9.8 million. His $7.2 million salary becomes fully guaranteed against injury if Smith is on the Cowboys’ roster on the fifth day of the new league year.
READ NEXT: Andy Dalton Addresses Interest in Returning as Cowboys QB in 2021
Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL
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Cowboys Starter Contemplating Retirement After Dismal 2020 Season: Report