Jeremy Mincey ended his holdout today, as expected, and while he doesn’t have a contract extension to show off, Mincey and the Cowboys have agreed to rework his contract for the 2015 season.
The renegotiated deal hasn’t been fully reported yet, but it will include at least an extra $500K in new money, which will bump up Mincey’s pay grade beyond $2MM for the upcoming season, according to Clarence Hill Jr. of the Star-Telegram.
Head coach Jason Garrett spoke very highly of his defensive veteran, and is happy to have him back with the team.
“I think that contributed to taking the ball away 31 times, second-most in the National Football League,” said Garrett. “That positively impacted the games that we played, and I think Mince was a big part of that, establishing that identity, that toughness, that relentlessness.”
As Zach Links wrote when discussing Mincey’s holdout, the veteran narrowly missed a $500K bonus based on snap count last season, despite coming up with a team high six sacks in 2014. The 31-year old had one of his best all-around seasons last year, and will be increasingly valuable to the team early on with Greg Hardy suspended for the first four games of the regular season.
The team’s second-round pick, Randy Gregory, also shows promise, but is undersized and could struggle to impact games early on. When the three hit their stride during the middle and hopefully towards the end of the season, the Cowboys could have a newfound strength on the defense.
“I think Jeremy has been a good player in this league for a number of years,” Garrett said. “He’s physically tough, and he plays hard. You want that on your football team.”
Mincey had sat out the last four days, hoping to work out out a contract extension with the team.
It’s actually refreshing to see a team reward its players with new contracts, and the Cowboys have now done this for Mincey and Orlando Scandrick, both times with little to no drama.