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The Dallas Cowboys held their first padded practice of the season on Monday and it was a costly one as defensive tackle Gerald McCoy was lost for the year with a ruptured right quad tendon.
McCoy was going to be a big part of the Cowboys’ defensive line in 2020 and undoubtedly a large voice in the locker room. After the news of being out for the year, he released a statement where he noted that he was still planning on mentoring the younger players. Mike McCarthy corroborated that idea on Tuesday morning.
What’s more is that on Tuesday there was an Instagram video posted by Gerald McCoy in which he noted that he was still smiling through his situation and that he was going to be cheering on his teammates. A few hours later a whole lot changed.
The Cowboys are releasing Gerald McCoy via injury waiver regarding his quad
If you had visions of Gerald McCoy roaming the Cowboys sidelines and coaching up the defensive linemen then you might want to pump the brakes a little bit. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Tuesday afternoon that the club released him with an injury waiver. The mothership’s Nick Eatman added that the Cowboys hope to re-sign him in the offseason when he’s healthy.
Gerald McCoy has an injury waiver on his quad in his contract; if he hurts quad, which he did, they can cut him, per source. And they did. He can keep his $3 million bonus but Cowboys appear not to owe him any more. https://t.co/qcRkUP87wj
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 18, 2020
The section from Gerald McCoy's contract that takes the #Cowboys off the hook for $2.5 million in base salary guarantees this season because of the quad waiver. See the last paragraph. pic.twitter.com/O6ngEseFhh
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 18, 2020
The Cowboys have waived DT Gerald McCoy. They had an injury waiver on his right quad and chose to release him, but have hopes of re-signing him next year when he’s healthy.
— Nick Eatman (@nickeatman) August 18, 2020
Gerald McCoy had what was considered to be a pre-existing conditing in his right quad tendon. The language was included in his contract to protect the Cowboys for the sort of situation that, unfortunately for both parties, arose during Monday’s practice.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) August 18, 2020
It is an unfortunate thing that the business side of football not only exists but often is what steers a lot of decisions. It seems as if the Cowboys, having a protection against this particular injury, chose to part ways with McCoy in the name of bettering their roster.
The biggest contractual loss for the Cowboys here literally is McCoy’s contract. He signed a three-year deal with them this past spring so they either feel very confident that they can figure something out in 2021 or are willing to roll the dice on him moving on elsewhere.
If you are wondering what the Cowboys are planning on doing with the extra roster spot that this frees up, they have reportedly signed OL Pace Murphy. And for what it’s worth, Dontari Poe has been activated off of the PUP list.