Cowboys sit Sean Lee in Week 17, so he loses $2 million next season

The Dallas Cowboys say Sean Lee has a hamstring injury.

And a few weeks ago, team owner 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 give him the $2 million, 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 raises an eyebrow or two.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm