After one of the briefest of stints with the Dallas Cowboys in 2020, decorated Defensive Tackle Gerald McCoy has finally found a new home with the Las Vegas Raiders. The veteran signed with Vegas yesterday after a long offseason recovering from a ruptured quad.
McCoy signed with Dallas in last year to hopefully upgrade their woeful DT position. But it was a short-lived relationship as Gerald was injured on the first day of padded practices during the modified 2020 training camp schedule.
With his quadriceps being a known issue, the Cowboys wrote a clause into McCoy’s contract which protected them against the very injury that he suffered. This allowed them to release Gerald with minimal damage to the salary cap and they used that option, cutting McCoy the next day.
There was talk throughout last season and even early in 2021 that McCoy and the Cowboys were interested in running it back this year. But at some point Dallas clearly decided to go a different route, signing free agents Brent Urban and Carlos Watkins at DT and then drafting Osa Odighizuwa and Quinton Bohanna.
McCoy didn’t find work until yesterday, which isn’t surprising given his injury and how many aging veterans eventually land with teams. But while he’s 33 now, Gerald has been one of the best defensive tackles of the modern era with six Pro Bowls and three All-Pro selections.
He may get a chance to show Dallas what they missed out on when the Raiders visit the Cowboys for the Thanksgiving Day game in 2021.
Gerald’s short time with Dallas was a microcosm for the harsh realities of professional football. Health risks, business decisions; the storybook tales and Disney-movie fodder are the exceptions to the general events of the NFL.
While we may have never seen him in a Cowboys uniform, we’re rooting for Gerald McCoy to have the bounce-season in Las Vegas that we were hoping for in 2020.
