News: SAEN: Cowboys cut four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle

NewsBot

New Member
Messages
111,281
Reaction score
2,947
SAN ANTONIO – Citing a failed physical, the Dallas Cowboys cut four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jay Ratliff on Wednesday, ending a nearly year-long drama that included a locker room confrontation between the brooding player and owner Jerry Jones.

Ratliff, 32, exits without taking a snap this season. He was eligible to come off the physically unable to perform list this week, but the Cowboys apparently lost patience with his slow recovery from sports hernia surgery and a hamstring injury the club said occurred during the conditioning test at the start of training camp.

Dallas signed Ratliff to a five-year extension worth $48.6 million. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is reporting the club will pay his $715,000 salary this year, but the rest of the dead money will will roll over into 2014 cap. Ratliff will be off the books in 2015, the newspaper reported.

A seventh-round pick by Dallas in 2005, Ratliff thrived as a nose tackle in the 3-4 defense favored by Bill Parcells and Wade Phillips and was selected to four straight NFC Pro Bowl rosters from 2008 through 2011. The Cowboys touted him as the anchor in the middle of Monte Kiffin’s 3-4 defense, but he never played a down for the 73-year-old defensive coordinator.

Possessing a fiery temper, Ratliff was involved in a locker room dust-up with Jones last season. The drama continued in the offseason when Ratliff was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence.

On top of all that, his sack totals declined each season from a career-high 7.5 in 2008 to zero last season, when he played in only six games because of ankle and groin issues.

Continue reading...
 
Top