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Over the offseason, the Cowboys released former starting center Phil Costa after asking him to take a pay cut which he declined. Costa was going to cost Dallas $1.5 million against the cap, a number they felt was too high. So in early March they let Costa go.
Not taking the pay cut seemed to be the wise move as Costa was eventually signed by the Indianapolis Colts to a two-year deal worth $2.75 million. Even more, he was being given a clear shot at starting.
He was the only free agent player signed by [Colts GM] Ryan Grigson this offseason to address the offensive line. This after Grigson released two-year starter Samson Satele and opted not to re-sign Mike McGlynn, who started several games the last two seasons at center when Satele was hurt. At present, second-year player Khaled Holmes from USC is the only noteworthy center on the roster.
Instead of taking his shot at being the Colts starting center for at least the next two years, Costa abruptly retired from football today. He is only 26 years old. The only statement so far is from the Colts GM Grigson:
"Phil feels it's in his best interest to retire from the game. We certainly understand and wish him nothing but the best."
You would think there is something more to the story.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys current center, the man Costa backed up, is gearing up for his second season. Travis Frederick thinks he can do nothing but improve on his first season.
"I think it went OK," Frederick said. "I saw a great deal of improvement throughout the season. You go back and look at the film, to me, it looks like I'm a different player at the end of the year than I was at the beginning of the year."
He's glad to be done with the distractions of a rookie offseason.
"Anything that you do outside of football is a distraction. As many distractions as you can eliminate will help you become a better player. The more you can focus on watching film, the more you can focus on working out, that's going to help you become a better player. It'll be nice to really just know what I'm doing and be able to go out and do those things."