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The Cowboys needed to bring in a kicker while Dan “Split’Em” Bailey nurses his pulled groin back to health. After working out several candidates on Tuesday, the club decided on veteran Mike Nugent to fill the void. That wasn’t the surprising part, as Nugent has plenty of skins on the wall. The shock came in whom Dallas released to make room on the roster. Defensive end Damontre Moore has been shown the door.

The team hasn’t given a reason for Moore’s release at this time. After running afoul of the law prior to even signing in Dallas, there are plenty of possibilities to consider until more information is made available. That includes the fact Moore was one of only two Cowboys who demonstrated for racial justice and an end to police brutality.

Moore, along with fellow defensive lineman David Irving, raised a fist at the conclusion of the national anthem in Dallas’ last home game against the Green Bay Packers. This followed owner Jerry Jones’ edict any Cowboys player who was seen as disrespecting the flag would not play.

Irving, who is a much more vital part of the organization, played Sunday in San Francisco, recording a sack and a forced fumble after again raising a fist at the conclusion of the anthem.

Could Moore’s release have absolutely nothing to do with his raising a fist? It’s possible, but it does have to be heavily considered due to the circumstances.

Moore was signed as a free agent this past offseason, but missed the first two games due to suspension from a December DUI arrest. The club knew of the arrest and expected the suspension, so that wasn’t anything very alarming to the front office.

Moore was a surprise deactivation on Sunday against the 49ers, the Cowboys first game after Moore’s demonstration. Although he hadn’t recorded a sack yet in the three games he appeared in, he was creating pressure on the quarterback. Despite being limited to 29 pass-rushing snaps, Moore had one quarterback hit and four hurries in those 29 snaps, good for a Pass-Rush Productivity metric of 12.9 on the year according to Pro Football Focus.

That was second the team at defensive end only to Demarcus Lawrence’s 15.0. Lawrence has 9.5 sacks on the season and Irving, who has been lights out since his return from suspension is classified as a defensive tackle.

The Cowboys are currently sixth in the league in sacks without any contributions from Moore, despite playing one less game than over half of the league.

Not only had Moore been performing well in pass-rush opportunities, but he was also faring well against the run. According to PFF, in 28 snaps against the run, Moore had a 7.1 run stop percentage, also good for second among the team’s defensive ends. These stats aren’t the end-all to evaluating Moore’s performance, but they don’t indicate a player who had been playing bad enough to be released.