Tyrone Crawford, who’s spent his entire nine-year NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys, will be retiring this offseason. The news of Crawford’s retirement was announced by Head Coach Mike McCarthy today during a press conference.
A 3rd-round pick by the Cowboys in 2012, Crawford joined the team after playing college ball a Boise State. He was drafted to play defensive end in the 3-4 scheme being used by former Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan.
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Crawford played as a backup DE his rookie season and then missed all of 2013 with an Achilles injury during training camp. He returned in 2014 as a hybrid DE/DT after the team had switched to the 4-3 defense.
See great potential in Crawford as a pass-rushing DT, Dallas gave him a significant contract extension during the 2015 offseason. They thought they were getting ahead of the market and locking Tyrone up at a discount based on his perceived future production.
Unfortunately, that contract put a bullseye on Crawford for the last six seasons. While always a solid player with valuable position flexibility, Tyrone never had more than 5.5 sacks in a single year and struggled at times to stay healthy.
Over the last few years, complaints about Crawford’s contract became an annual topic. He was targeted as a potential salary cap casualty at times but Dallas kept bringing him back as a reliable depth option and locker room leader.
That contract finally expired in 2021 and Tyrone became a free agent last week. Now it appears his career will not be continuing with the Cowboys or any other team.
Through whatever ups and downs, Tyrone Crawford put in almost a full decade of solid work for the Dallas Cowboys. He lived up to being a 3rd-round pick and was a significant piece on some of our most successful modern-era teams.
We wish him well in his next chapter!
