Going into the offseason we knew that the Cowboys were going to be up against the salary cap. Though semi-predictable contract shedding happened with Amari Cooper, Blake Jarwin, and Greg Zuerlein, one player who was surprisingly unaffected was Cornerback Anthony Brown. The veteran appears safe to return in 2022 and gives Dallas a fairly loaded CB position.
Entering the last year of the three-year deal he signed before 2020, Brown’s contract offered the Cowboys $5 million in cap space with only $1.5 million in dead money. It was one of the cleanest moves they had available in terms of the size of the dead money hit compared to the cap savings.
Not only was there a fiscal benefit but, unlike with Cooper at WR or Jarwin at TE, Brown arguably had more solid replacement options behind him. The gap between Anthony and guys like Jourdan Lewis and Kelvin Joseph doesn’t feel as severe as where losing Cooper, Jarwin, or La’el Collins over the last month currently leaves Dallas.
But while easily lost in the shadows of Trevon Diggs’ amazing season, Brown had his own breakout in 2021 with a career-high three interceptions, 71 tackles, and his first INT returned for a score. He had his bad moments too; the heavily-penalized game against the Raiders stand out. Nevertheless, Anthony was a solid 16-game starter who made his own positive impact opposite Diggs.
The Cowboys clearly valued Brown’s contributions enough to not make him a cap casualty earlier this offseason. And now that we’re in April and Dallas still has about $14-$15 million in cap space to use, it’s possible they’re going to just let Anthony finish out his contract next season after all.
In fact, Brown was among a few Cowboys defenders who yesterday had new jersey numbers announced for next season. Anthony will be going from #30 to #3, joining a trend that saw Trevon Diggs take #7 last year and Jourdan Lewis claim #2 now. It certainly sounds like Brown feels comfortable with his current squad.
That will give the Cowboys an impressive stable of experienced and young talent at cornerback in 2022. Diggs, Brown, Lewis, and Joseph make a top four with proven skills and room to improve further.
The depth potential doesn’t stop there, either. Dallas would also have one of last year’s 3rd-round picks, Nahshon Wright, competing with prospect Kyron Brown and veteran C.J. Goodwin for the bottom spots on the depth chart. It’s also likely that the Cowboys will add at least a couple more CB prospects from the upcoming rookie class.
The beauty of the situation now, assuming it holds, is that cornerback is a position the Cowboys don’t have hanging over them for the 2022 NFL Draft. While they’re clearly in need of help at left guard, receiver, and throughout the defensive front, Dallas could arguably come out of the draft with no additional corners and not have a problem come training camp.
Hanging on to Anthony Brown creates this luxury. And while 2022 will probably be his last year in Dallas, he will either again be a bargain as a full-time starter or affordable, quality depth given his track record and experience.
Of course, there are still a few months left for Dallas to ultimately find other uses for that $5 million in cap space. But with the marquee free agents mostly gone and Dalton Schultz’s next contract already accounted for by the franchise tender, it’s hard to see where the Cowboys will suddenly find a need if they haven’t already.
Once again, Anthony Brown keeps making himself valuable. It’s how the former 6th-round pick earned a second contract from Dallas three years ago, and how he’ll probably now play that contract out in 2022.
