The Dallas Cowboys officially placed former Pro Bowl and All-Pro center Travis Frederick on the reserve/retired list, the team announced Thursday.
Frederick announced his retirement from football in March, but the Cowboys kept him on their active roster until now to spread the former offensive lineman’s salary-cap hit over the next two seasons. According to Spotrac, he was set to count roughly $12 million against the cap this season but will now count about $5 million this year and $6.1 million in 2021.
The move will save the Cowboys about $7 million toward this year’s salary cap, according to the team. Dallas has yet to sign any of their draft picks from April’s NFL Draft.
Frederick, 29, started every regular-season game from 2013-17 before he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, an auto-immune disease that impacts the nervous system, in 2018. The disease, which caused him to lose strength and some motor skills, forced him to miss the entire 2018 campaign.
Frederick received treatment for the disease and eventually returned to the field in 2019, earning his fifth trip to the Pro Bowl. At the time of his retirement, he attributed his long battle with the disease as a significant reason for walking away from football.
The Cowboys selected Frederick in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft out of Wisconsin. He earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2016 and was named second-team All-Pro twice (2014-15).
Joe Looney, Connor McGovern, Connor Williams and Tyler Biadasz are possible candidates to start at center for the Cowboys in 2020. Looney filled in for Frederick in 2018.
