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Just a day after Cowboys All-Pro Gerald McCoy suffered a ruptured quad, putting an end to his 2020 season, Dallas released the defensive tackle via injury waiver, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. McCoy had an injury waiver on his quad in the three-year, $18.3 million contract he signed with the Cowboys in late March that stipulated if he injured it, the club could cut him. And now they have.
McCoy is able to keep his $3 million bonus, per Schefter, but Dallas doesn't owe him more than that and takes them off the hook for his $2.5 million base salary for this season. The 32-year-old was due to earn a total of $9 million and could have earned up to $6.35 million this season, so this is a costly turn of events for McCoy in more ways than one. Dallas would have been able to get out of his contract next offseason without financial ramifications and would have cleared about $3 million in cap space, but this injury waiver does appear to clear up some capital for 2020 and beyond.
The veteran pass rusher was primed to be a big piece in Cowboys first-year head coach Mike McCarthy's defense and start along the defensive line.
"Gerald McCoy's injury -- very unfortunate," McCarthy said during his Tuesday morning presser. "I tell you, it makes you sick on a personal level anytime you see a player go through this type of injury. It was an injury that was in the drill work and I can't tell you just what he has meant to our D-Line just in the short time we've been together.
"He's a big personality -- obviously an excellent, excellent football player. But I thought he was in good spirits afterward when I saw him and visited with him. He'll tackle this injury recovery just like he tackled everything else. Big personality, has a good mindset based on what's in front of him.
"But yeah, definitely a loss and very, very unfortunate."
In 16 games played for Carolina last season, McCoy totaled 37 tackles and five sacks. It was that type of play that he was set to bring to Dallas, but the defensive will now need to adjust on the fly with the regular-season opener just a few weeks away. Luckily for them, they do have a number of options to replace McCoy, which CBS Sports' Patrik Walker breaks down here.
McCoy said in a statement that he expects to be ready to roll for 2021 and was looking to be a mentor to the young Cowboys players on defense, which McCarthy seems to embrace early Tuesday. Now, however, it appears that McCoy's future is nonexistent or at the very least murky as he attempts this comeback.
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