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The Dallas Cowboys say Sean Lee has a hamstring injury.
And a few weeks ago, Jerry Jones refused to call it a lost season, so perspective is a must.
Lee
won't play in Week 17, purportedly because of this ailment. But in
doing so, he'll miss out on $2 million additional salary next season.
Lee needs to play 80 percent of the defensive snaps to earn $5 million
next season. Otherwise, he'll earn $3 million. Lee has played 812 of the
Cowboys’ 989 snaps (82.1 percent), but if the Cowboys play more than 27
snaps on defense — which should happen sometime in the first half — Lee
will be below the 80-percent mark.
That stinks.
Lee
has been banged up through most of his Cowboys career, and even dating
back to Penn State. But he has been, by all accounts, hard-working and
selfless in his approach. If Lee really is hurt and the Cowboys do opt
to give him the $2 mil, which can happen, it still will still count
against the salary cap.
Or maybe Jones promised Lee a month's worth of personal use of the private bus. We just don't know.
The Cowboys also owe Darren McFadden
an additional $300,000 after he surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in Week
17, so we can't say they're completely cheap. But Lee being inactive
does raise an eyebrow or two.
