Terence Steele’s future with the Cowboys should be a discussion this offseason

The Week 18 matchup in the 2024 regular-season finale against the Washington Commanders will finally close the chapter on what was a rather disappointing season for the Dallas Cowboys. It also means the tough decisions they have to make this offseason get pushed to the forefront of the to-do list.

Jerry Jones and Company don’t have time to sit around and twiddle their thumbs. They have a lot of tough decisions to make from deciding what to do about the coaching staff to how they want to go about building and upgrading the roster for the 2025 season. Sadly, we may be saying goodbye to a lot of familiar faces after the season finale this week.

The Cowboys have a number of pending free agents they have to sift through to determine who they want to let you walk and who they may want to try to retain for next year. They also have to make some tough decisions and about who could potentially be a salary-cap casualty, which is where right tackle Terence Steele comes in.

Unfortunately, 2024 wasn’t kind to the Cowboys starting right tackle. Although he made himself available by remaining healthy the entire year, his play this season sadly didn’t match up to the amount of money he’s currently being paid. That could lead to his potential release, even though Dallas doesn’t currently have a clear-cut heir apparent to replace him.

Determining who the Cowboys could replace Terence Steele with at RT is a topic better left to discussion when/if his dismissal is ever finalized, but there’s little doubt making this type of move isn’t justified. In fact, if you’re a fan of Pro Football Focus’ grading system, you may be surprised where No. 78 ranks in certain categories among his OT peers.


Terence Steele’s Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades

  • Overall: 61.7 (47th out of 138 OTs)
  • Pass blocking: 58.5 (91st)
  • Run blocking: 77.4 (15th)
  • Snaps played in 2024: 1090 (2nd)
  • Penalties 2024: 6 (89th)
  • Sacks allowed in 2024: 9 (135th)
  • Hits allowed in 2024: 6 (119th)
  • Pressures allowed in 2024: 37 (126th)

As you can see, other than being able to stay healthy and play the second most snaps among offensive tackles this year and grade out as a Top 15 run blocker, Terence Steele’s other grades are mostly in the bottom half of the league. He’s sadly not playing up to being the 12th highest-paid right tackle in the league and could become a salary-cap casualty because of it.

As far as being a potential salary-cap casualty goes, the Cowboys could outright release Steele this offseason and save $4.6 million in salary-cap relief. If they designate him as a June 1 release though that number jumps up significantly to $14 million. Depending on if/when No. 78 is in fact released, Dallas could use that money elsewhere to hopefully upgrade the roster or sign their rookie draft class.

Although we don’t know how the Cowboys brass feel about Terence Steele and his future with the organization behind closed doors, a case could be made he will be playing his last game for America’s Team in Week 18. And because of that, it’s going to be really interesting to see how all of this plays out. Add it to the list of things to keep an eye on throughout this offseason.

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