MINNEAPOLIS - Dallas Cowboys centre Andre Gurode's future with the team is up in the air.
Gurode was on the inactive list Saturday night for Dallas' pre-season game at Minnesota, despite the five-time Pro Bowl pick being healthy during training camp and a knee injury this week to backup Phil Costa. Rookie Kevin Kowalski started at centre against the Vikings instead.
Gurode started training camp on the physically unable to perform list after telling the team upon arrival he had arthroscopic knee surgery in June.
Costa has been pushing Gurode for the job this month, and the Cowboys already cut veteran starters Leonard Davis and Marc Colombo before camp began. The Cowboys, who used three of their eight draft picks this year on offensive linemen, have clearly been tilting toward youth at those critical positions.
Owner Jerry Jones said on the team's pre-game TV show that Gurode's status on the roster is under scrutiny for salary-cap reasons, so he was held out of the game to avoid injury. Coach Jason Garrett said on the show the Cowboys would evaluate Gurode's situation Sunday.
"He's certainly a player that's done some outstanding things for the Cowboys in his career but has had really exciting competition this camp and is still having it, so we're going to go back and have a business talk," Jones said. "There's certainly no discipline involved here. It's just a cap thing. We need to look at it from the standpoint of where he is, what we pay him, what we're going to be doing in the future."
Running back Marion Barber and wide receiver Roy Williams were two other veterans let go by the Cowboys before the season.
