Cowboys Backup CB Chooses COVID-19 NFL Opt-Out

Dallas Cowboys Backup CB Canady Chooses COVID-19 NFL Opt-Out

FRISCO - Dallas Cowboys backup cornerback Maurice Canady had a fan club in the scouting department, support enough to make it possible that he might've emerged as a candidate to  be a rotation player on the 2020 edition of the team. But things change - especially when COVID-19 changes them. So Canady on Monday becomes the first Cowboy to use the virus-forced "opt-out'' rule to not play this season.

"Family first, money second,'' Canady tweeted. "Stay safe.''

Family first money second #staysafe 🙏🏾

— 444 (@MauriceCanady26) July 27, 2020

Voluntary opt-outs will not get their full pay for 2020; their contracts will toll to the 2021 season. In the case of Canady, who previously played briefly for the Jets and Ravens before joining Dallas, he'll get $150,000 for this season. His a one-year deal with $950,000 base salary will be available to him next year.

Canady, 6-1 and 190 and a former 2016 sixth-round draft pick out of Virginia, registered four career starts in the NFL, so he wasn't necessarily an option in replacing Byron Jones, the Pro Bowler who departed to the Miami Dolphins via free agency.  Incumbent vets Chidobe Awuzie, Anthony Brown and Jourdan Lewis, along with Alabama rookie second-rounder Trevon Diggs, are projected to be the top corners. Another  rookie, Tulsa product Reggie Robinson II, and another vet signee, former Las Vegas Raiders starter Daryl Worley, are also in play as rotational contributors. In total, the Cowboys might've keep as many as 11 defensive backs - and Canady might not have been among them.

But this is the first impact COVID-19 has had on the roster of the Cowboys, who are assembling this week at The Star in Frisco to begin their stay-at-home training camp.