Cowboys won’t tender Luke Gifford

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Linebacker Luke Gifford led the Cowboys in special teams snaps during the 2021 season, but that wasn’t enough to convince the Cowboys to tender him as a restricted free agent this offseason.

Gifford’s agent Brett Tessler said, via Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, that the Cowboys informed his client of their decision. They also said they were interested in retaining Gifford for less than the $2.433 million cap hit they’d incur by tendering him at the lowest level.

Gifford spent the last three seasons with the Cowboys. He appeared in 16 regular season games and their playoff loss to the 49ers in 2021 after playing in 14 games his first two seasons.

Gifford had one tackle in the playoff loss and has 23 tackles in his other 30 appearances.