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Everyone knew it was coming, and Stephen Jones confirmed it this week: The Dallas Cowboys are once again considering cutting Brandon Carr to save salary cap space. Even if this weren’t the case, Dallas already had a severe need in the secondary heading into the 2016 NFL Draft, so now Jalen Ramsey looks like a perfect fit at No. 4 overall.
Cowboys’ Stephen Jones confirms the team is mulling the release of CB Brandon Carr. https://t.co/LVxiyOQv2j pic.twitter.com/OzWYCV3oGM
— theScore (@theScore) February 27, 2016
Carr hasn’t played nearly as poorly over the past couple of seasons as some might have you believe, but his play is worth about half as much as he’s making and counting toward the salary cap. The Cowboys can’t wipe out his $13.8 million cap hit by making him a cap casualty in 2016, but it would save them about $6.5 million in cap space.
Unless Carr reverses course and agrees to take a pay but, he’s far more likely to be cut this offseason than he was last year, when he came very close to looking for a new home via free agency. Assuming his time in Dallas does end in this offseason, the Cowboys’ decision with their fourth overall pick in the draft almost is made for them.
There’s no such thing as a bust-proof player in the draft, but Ramsey is as close it gets. He could be a superstar by the end of his first season and is arguably a lock to win Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2016, assuming he ends up with a decent team. That’s typically not the case for any player taken in the top five, but the Cowboys are a team that would have easily won their division in 2015 had Tony Romo not missed virtually the entire season with a broken collarbone.
Ramsey is in the unique position to have a similar career path as Patrick Peterson, with more upside. If taken by the Cowboys, he would be the best player in their secondary for the next decade with another intelligent, hybrid defensive back in the same secondary in Byron Jones.
Like Jones, Ramsey can play anywhere in the secondary, but at an elite level. This is probably the most intriguing part of his game considering the rarity of his skill set, but his natural instincts as a defensive back are simply off the charts for a player at any level, and his game tape suggests he still has room to grow.
In other words, he’s the closest thing to a perfect prospect as you’ll see in the draft.
Again, cutting Carr would be a risky move by the Cowboys, but entering 2016 with Orlando Scandrick, Jones and Ramsey as their top three defensive backs is an exciting thought for anyone in the organization or fan base. And with the cap room created by Carr’s release, Dallas could bring in a solid veteran in free agency like Sean Smith to really fortify the secondary for 2016 and beyond.
If Dallas keeps Carr, then Ramsey isn’t a must with the fourth pick, but he’d still be incredibly hard to pass on, especially considering the team’s Super-Bowl-or-bust approach in 2016. Then again, cutting Carr and going with a more youthful, explosive secondary with Ramsey as the new headliner will likely be intriguing enough for the Cowboys to pull the trigger.
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