With today’s announcement that the salary cap is down to $182.5 million for the year, an eight-percent dip from last year, many teams have to get creative to open up room. The Dallas Cowboys have been very active, and looked to their big-name offensive linemen to free up room.
We’re just a few years removed from Dallas having one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. Injuries have affected the team’s play in recent seasons, but it is still a group of big-name players. Three of those guys have restructured their deals to give the team some flexibility.
According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, the three restructured contracts have opened up “roughly $17 million in cap room.” We don’t have solid numbers on the whole deal, but that’s a significant amount, especially as the Cowboys enter a season in which they will once again have high expectations.
With the recent signing of Dak Prescott, the team has clearly signaled that the championship window remains open. Dak signed a four-year deal worth up to $164 million, $75 million of which he’ll get this year. The deal is structured in such a way that his salary cap hit is pretty manageable for the year, however, at just over $22 million.
The Cowboys have restructured the contracts for offensive lineman Zack Martin, Tyron Smith and La’el Collins creating roughly $17 million in cap room, according to a source. The moves get them under the cap with room to make strategic free agent… https://t.co/jyrmTrg9ca
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) March 10, 2021
Zack Martin, Tyron Smith, and La’el Collins are among those high-profile players tasked with keeping Prescott, who is coming off of a season-ending ankle fracture, upright. They also need to open holes for one of the NFL’s highest-paid running backs in Ezekiel Elliott.
If everything clicks, with Dak, Zeke, and a slew of talented wide receivers, the Dallas Cowboys offense should be pretty special. The team needs to use some of this newfound cap room to shore up a defense that was often the main issue in 2020 though.
Prior to this news, the Cowboys were an estimated $7 million over the cap, per Spotrac.
[ESPN]
The post The Cowboys Restructured 3 Contracts To Free Up Cap Space appeared first on The Spun.
Leave a Reply