Cowboys Cut Cooper Rush To Make Room for QB Andy Dalton

The Dallas Cowboys Make A Move As They Cut Cooper Rush To Make Room for New Dak Prescott Backup QB Andy Dalton

FRISCO - Long-time Cincinnati Bengals starter Andy Dalton is coming to the Dallas Cowboys as a threat to an incumbent quarterback.

No, not Dak Prescott. Cooper Rush.

This signing of (Dalton) is "not about Dak's (contract),'' a team source told us on Saturday, shortly after agreeing to a deal with the free agent Dalton that has a base value of $3 million and could be worth up to $7 million.

Dalton is rolling into town ... and the "threat'' is done, as Rush is out, the Cowboys opting to waive the 26-year-old backup.

Dalton, who was selected by the Bengals in the second round of the 2011 Draft after having starred at TCU and still has family ties in DFW (along with a new $5 million home in University Park), will, as noted above, come with a $3 million price tag.

If he has to step in for Prescott for any length of time, the investment in Dalton, 32 (who in nine seasons with the Bengals had a 70-61-2 record and helped them to the postseason in each of his first five years) will be well-spent. But forget the Dak comparisons and conspiracy theories; Dak will eventually either sign his franchise-tag tender of $31 million for one year or will come to a long-term agreement with Dallas that can pay him in the range of $35 million APY over at least four years.

The Dalton contract comparison was always going to be appropriate for Cooper Rush.

Rush, as Dallas' young No. 2 QB, never did get a chance to prove himself on the field (in large part due to Prescott's iron-man presence). But he was already going to be pushed by youngsters Ben DiNucci and Clayton Thorson. Now he's nudged off the roster by Dalton, who was only out of work because Cincinnati had just paid him $17 million for 2019 and is turning the page to top overall NFL Draft pick Joe Burrow.

Cooper Rush recently signed his non-guaranteed tender with Dallas totaling $2.1 million. That's just $900,000 more than Dalton's new base salary and 2020 cap hit.

That's right: The real "new expense'' for Dallas to vault from Rush to Dalton is $900,000.