IRVING, Texas - The Cowboys released safety Gerald Sensabaugh, who had signed a five-year extension in December 2011.
His $3 million base salary would have been fully guaranteed had he stayed on the roster by March 12. With a number of restructures already done, cutting Sensabaugh saves another $1.4 million in cap room.
On his Twitter account (@Gsensabaugh), the safety wrote: "Been informed I'm being released for cap purposes...had a great run #CowboyNation I appreciate the organization and my teammates."
Sensabaugh fought through injury in 2012 to play in 15 games. He's only missed two games since joining the team in 2009, but last season was his first with the Cowboys he didn't record an interception.
Parting ways with Sensabaugh means the Cowboys will need to get production out of safeties Barry Church and Matt Johnson, both of whom are coming off injuries in 2012. Church had surgery after an Achilles injury in Week 3, while Johnson eventually went to injured reserve after dealing with hamstring injuries.
The Cowboys could also look to the NFL Draft to fill a need now at safety, but it still sounds like both Johnson and Church are part of the Cowboys' plans. Executive vice president Stephen Jones' comments at the NFL Combine gave a hint that the two young safeties might be more involved than Sensabaugh next season.
"It's not like we don't have two people we think can start for us in Matt Johnson and Barry Church," Jones said. "Obviously Matt's never done it. That's a serious projection, but we loved everything about him except that he was hurt – the way he moved around when he was healthy, the way he caught on to things, the way he knew things. But they're both coming off injuries so you've got two young guys you want to come through for you." [embedded_ad]
The Cowboys also have a restricted free agent in safety Danny McCray and two unrestricted free agents in Eric Frampton and Charlie Peprah. Both McCray and Frampton were special teams players who had to move into the rotation at safety, as the team dealt with injuries at the position.
