It appears the Cowboys already have some kind of plan in place for how to create salary cap space.
Week two of the Dallas Cowboys' offseason has come to a close, and contract talk is all over the place. The subject of this hour is a discussion centered around Dak Prescott and his contract situation. By this point, there have already been multiple articles written by people on the beat about how the Cowboys operated. is not necesary to Extending Dak Prescott's tenure this offseason in the name of creating salary cap relief (our Brandon Lowry discusses the idea here). They could choose to rebuild him if they wanted to.
Ultimately, what the Cowboys must do is something Dak Prescott's contract ultimately depends on whether it is restructured or extended. It's not very dramatic, but the choices they make will have a big impact on the entire offseason.
But there are other places the Cowboys can find money.
Cowboys appear to have first path to raising money
ESPN's Todd Archer also discussed the Dak Prescott situation and astutely laid out options that we know should be staring the Cowboys squarely in the face. Rebuild or expand. Doing nothing is not an option.
However, while discussing the subject, Archer revealed other details about the Cowboys' finances, specifically noting that they already have plans to restructure the contracts of both players Zach Martin and Trevon Diggs. Ta.
The Cowboys already have plans to restructure the contracts of All-Pro guard Zach Martin and cornerback Trevon Diggs, who is recovering from a torn ACL, which would give them about $20 million in cap space. there is a possibility. The contract of right tackle Terrence Steele could also be restructured. They could make wide receiver Michael Gallup a post-June 1 cut for $9.5 million, but they won't add that space until June.
They could sign All-Pro receiver CeeDee Lamb to a contract extension that would actually lower his $17.99 million cap number and make him the highest-paid receiver in the game.
The cap is not a myth, but there are ways to get around it and push money into the future.
We all know that Dak's decision is very important, but it's just as valuable to make this clear. Any flexibility would be welcome as Dallas currently has a nearly $20 million deficit in over-the-cap salary cap space. A reshuffle between Martin and Diggs appears to be returning Dallas to ground zero, so to speak.
Nothing is set in stone, but Archer is incredibly reliable and financially savvy, so Steele's restructuring, Michael Gallup's departure, etc. all seem like bets to happen. It looks like To be fair, these aren't radical ideas by any means, but they seem like the first path Dallas should take toward gaining playable cap space. As he pointed out, the team could create about $18 million more in space if they choose to go the rebuilding route with Dak Prescott.
What will the Cowboys do with this? Conventional wisdom says there's nothing super fun or glorious about it, but modern logic suggests it makes sense to go all out (excuse the drama) for the 2024 season. Maybe they're really considering it, at least for now.
Now, that map is starting to appear, but it remains to be seen what direction the Cowboys will ultimately take.
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