Getty Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn talks with defensive end RonDell Carter and defensive tackle Neville Gallimore.
After the selection of Mazi Smith, former Dallas Cowboys starter Neville Gallimore is firmly on the radar as a cut candidate.
Gallimore is entering a contract year and is going to be part of a crowded defensive tackle room that now includes Smith — the Cowboys’ first-round pick — and veteran Johnathan Hankins, who returned this offseason on a one-year free agent deal.
Gallimore also isn’t cheap, coming in with a $2.7 million base salary and a cap hit just under $3 million — a somewhat steep price for someone who played just 37% of the snaps last season and could lose more ground with Smith in the mix.
Bleacher Report listed Gallimore as “the best player who could still be cut” on the Cowboys roster.
“In the opening round of the draft, Dallas added Mazi Smith. That selection might have sounded the internal alarms of the Cowboys’ defensive tackles,” B/R’s David Kenyon wrote. “Neville Gallimore already saw his snap share drop below 40 percent in 2022, and Dallas can save $2.74 million if he’s released.”
Gallimore has 14 starts to his name during his three years with the Cowboys, totaling 74 tackles, three sacks and nine tackles for loss. He started nine games as a rookie but was among the starters for just one game last season. Despite that, he had his best season with 33 tackles, although he graded out at 36.6 overall on Pro Football Focus, struggling against the run (29.9).
Cowboys Want to Make Mazi Smith Pass-Rush Threat
Cowboys rookie DT Mazi Smith: “A lot of people talk about my pass rush in college, but I never had a pass-rush plan, so we’re gonna get a plan and see what I can do. I was a run-stopper. If we were going to win the game, I was gonna have to stop the run. And that’s what I focused…
Smith was a first-team All-Big Ten pick in 2022 at Michigan, collecting 48 tackles — 2.5 for loss — in 14 starts. He’s a big body at 6-3, 323 pounds and had just 0.5 sacks. But the Cowboys envision him as more than a run-stuffer.
“A lot of people talk about my pass rush production in college,” Smith said on May 12. “But I never had a pass rush plan [at Michigan]. So we’re going to get a plan and see what I can do. I was a run-stopper and if we’re going to win the game, I was going to have to stop the run that’s what I was focused on and that’s what I’m still focused on. But in practice you just get better.”
Smith took on his role as a run-stopper seriously at Michigan, helping lead the Wolverines’ fierce defense. It was what was best for the team and that’s what Smith was focused on.
“Well they knew I could do it,” he said. “So they put me in the position, my senior year, so they knew I could do it. But I also wanted to win the game and win the Big 10 Championship and I knew that if we were going to do that, we have to stop the run.”
Cowboys Nix Full-Time Shift to DE for Micah Parsons
GettyDallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons flexes after a sack.
Another change that seemed to be coming to the Cowboys’ defensive line appeared to be superstar linebacker Micah Parsons moving to defensive end full-time. He’s been bulking up this offseason in preparation to play more in the trenches.
“I’m trying to bulk up and just focus on me and my development, carrying that load,” Parsons said, via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
But veteran defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has other ideas and assured that Parsons will still be a linebacker next season — although he’ll be pursuing quarterbacks quite a bit.
“He is a pass-rushing linebacker,” Quinn said from rookie minicamp on May 13. “If you ever need position changes, come to me. Not through any of the guys, and we can adjust for that. I think what he was probably trying to say is, ‘I’m really emphasizing some pass rush into my offseason.'”
Parsons will still be getting after the quarterback quite a bit. He only played 195 of his 1,062 total snaps as an off-ball linebacker last season, according to Pro Football Focus.