The agent for Dallas center Andre Gurode says he has been released by the Cowboys.
Agent Kennard McGuire confirmed the move in an email Monday.
The Cowboys forced Gurode to sit out Saturday night’s game in Minnesota while they decided whether to trade, cut or release him. Dallas will save $5.5 million against the cap by dropping Gurode, who has made the Pro Bowl the last five years.
Gurode is 33 and going into his 10th season. He’s been durable, starting every game the last three seasons and all but two over the last five years. He had knee surgery in June.
Andre Gurode was warned, just like everyone else on the Dallas Cowboys. Under first-year coach Jason Garrett, jobs will be won and lost by how players perform in training camp and preseason games, not by their past.
So having made the Pro Bowl the last five years wasn’t enough for Gurode to keep his roster spot.
The Cowboys cut him Monday for a variety of reasons that included his age and salary, his decision to have knee surgery so late in the offseason that it sidelined him for the start of camp, and the performance by an undrafted, unproven second-year center during his absence.
The move also proves Garrett means what he says, a message that equally hits veterans who may feel comfortable and up-and-comers trying to prove themselves.
