NFC Notes: Cowboys, Giants, Vikings

Cowboys

Cowboys HC Jason Garrett admitted Monday that K Dan Bailey’s $3.4 million base salary for the 2018 season played a part in his recent release.

“It was certainly a very difficult decision for us,” Garrett said, per Jon Machota.

Charean Williams reports that the Cowboys did not ask Bailey to take a pay cut, which implies that the decision to cut him came down to more than just money.

“Obviously, Dan has been as good of a player as we’ve had around here over the last seven or eight years,” Garrett said. “He’s one of the elite kickers in the game and has been throughout his career, made a ton of big kicks for us. It was not an easy decision for us to make. Obviously, a lot of factors go into this kind of a decision. It was one we talked about a lot. There is a business side to the game as well that is certainly a factor in making a decision like this. But really, honestly, there is a business side to making a lot of decisions we make in the era of the salary cap. You have to allocate dollars to certain guys and you have to decide where you can maybe save some money and save some salary cap space.

“I can’t say enough about Dan Bailey as a person, as a kicker, what he’s done for this organization, the number of pressure kicks he made for us. He and I had a good visit the other day, talked the whole thing through. We wish him nothing but the best going forward. He’s been a great player for us and will continue to be a great player in this league.”

Giants

• The Giants are bringing in veteran QB Matt McGloin for a workout. (NFLTR)
• Dan Duggan reports that the Giants are also working out DE Daeshon Hall and WR/KR JoJo Natson.
• Pet Leonard adds that WR/KR Quadree Henderson will also be trying for New York.

Vikings

Former Vikings CB Terence Newman was asked Monday whether he would come out of retirement and return to playing if one of the team’s defensive backs got hurt.

“I wouldn’t have a choice,” Newman said, per Courtney Cronin. “It would be too hard to just go pick up somebody that hasn’t been in this system and just try to plug them in in one week. I think it would be way too hard. I would definitely do it. I hope I don’t have to.“