Just a couple hours after officially signing Dak Prescott’s new contrac, the Dallas Cowboys made moves to create additional cap space. First was their quest to restructure the contract of their top three offensive linemen. Then Dallas decided to create minor cap space and an extra slot on their 90-man roster ahead of the March 17 start of the new league year.
The Cowboys have decided to release veteran fullback Jamize Olawale.
The Cowboys have released veteran fullback Jamize Olawale and signed DE Ron'Dell Carter, who Dallas signed as an undrafted rookie free agent last year
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) March 10, 2021
Olawale, who played college football at North Texas, was an undrafted free-agent for Dallas in 2012. He went on to play six season for the Raiders before signing a three year contract to return to the Cowboys in 2018. Olawale’s role in Dallas mainly consisted of being a lead blocker for Ezekiel Elliott, he was also a contributor on special teams.
However he was a remnant of the no-longer in tact Jason Garrett regime. New head coach Mike McCarthy doesn’t have a similar affinity for the position.
Olawale’s base salaries and cap hits pushed forward to 2021 from 2020, so the Cowboys will save the $1,050,000 in cash, but only $450,000 against the cap as the 2022 proration of his $1.8 million signing bonus accelerates onto this year’s cap.
Last season, Dallas played without a traditional fullback in their offense, often using tight-end Blake Bell in that role. Bell is expected to become a free-agent this offseason.
With the release of Olawale and possible loss of Bell, the Cowboys could turn to second-year player Sewo Olonilua. The former TCU Horned Frog is an intriguing option seeing that he ran for 1,624 yards and 18 touchdowns in his college career.
[vertical-gallery id=665911][listicle id=665836][lawrence-newsletter]