Cornerback Orlando Scandrick has requested to be released by the Dallas Cowboys, according to a report from ESPN’s Todd Archer. The veteran has been with the team since 2008, when he was drafted in the fifth round.
Archer’s report can be found here:
The end of Scandrick’s run in Dallas comes as no surprise. He had fallen behind the youth movement at cornerback with Jourdan Lewis, Chidobe Awuzie, and Anthony Brown all arriving in the last two seasons. Now with talk that Byron Jones may move back to CB, there’s just not place for Orlando.
Unfortunately for the Cowboys, releasing Scandrick doesn’t provide any great salary cap relief.
If Dallas cuts Scandrick outright, they will get back about $1.4 million from his $5.3-million cap hit in 2018. If they make him a June-1st cut, the cap relief increases to $3 million and pushes $1.6 million of dead money into 2019.
If not for all their younger options, the Cowboys might have elected to stick with Orlando for one more season. But given what they already have at corner, Dallas was likely planning to release him even before this request.