What Does NFL’s $208M Salary Cap Ceiling for 2022 Mean for Cowboys?

Flamma

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I am not a Dak hater. I think getting him signed for the long term was an imperative. But Dak demanded a 4 year deal, which his deal is, because he WANTS to renegotiate an even bigger deal when this one is up. That means he will take into account the salary CAP, whatever it increases to, and make his demands for the most money he can get. If he wanted $40 million this time, he is going to want a similar over the top deal in the future. Any thoughts that at some point Dak is going to be a bargain for Dallas should be tossed out that window. It is never going to happen. But the salary CAP problem is not just about Dak. It is really about overpaying multiple players including Lawrence, Cooper, Zeke and Jaylon Smith. The Cowboys, who refuse to sign free agents because they are overpriced, have no problem overpaying their own guys. Will they ever learn?

I agree with you. But I'm thinking Dak is going to want around the same or just over the highest QB when the extension comes to pass. I'm thinking he won't demand more than that due to cap space, but we'll have to wait and see.
 

Stash

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The team could cut or trade him post June 1. Go to spotrac and search Elliott. 2022 would be a wash with $16M in dead cap but saving $16M on cap. 2023 would see $6M in further dead cap. Trading him is much easier on the cap. Cowboys could sweeten a trade by eating some of Elliott’s contract.

I think he would have to lead the league in rushing and have an MVP-level season for their to even be a prayer of anyone trading for that contract.

It’s the Cowboys’ mistake and nobody is lining up to take it off their hands.
 

buybuydandavis

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Yesterday the NFL and the NFLPA announced their agreement on a salary cap “ceiling’ for 2022 of $208.2 million. What does this figure, a potential major increase over previous projections, mean for the Dallas Cowboys now and next season?

You’ve probably already seen articles about Dallas having one of the worst cap situations in the league for 2022. Doom and gloom projections that showed the Cowboys anywhere from roughly $24-$34 million over the cap have cycled since QB Dak Prescott got his massive new deal last March.

Hopefully you’ve also seen the work of various Cowboys writers explaining that the team has several ways to deal with that problem. There is a lot of room in Dak’s contract, plus those of WR Amari Cooper, DE DeMarcus Lawrence, G Zack Martin, and others for restructuring and creating sufficient salary cap space to get back in the black in 2022.

Plus, if needed, the Cowboys can make some business decisions on the contracts of LB Jaylon Smith, CB Anthony Brown, and some other potential cap casualties next year.

All of this was before yesterday’s news about the $208.2 cap ceiling. The recent “cap hell” projections were based on a 2022 salary cap of around $192.5 million; a $10 million increase from the official 2021 figure of $182.5 million.

The NFL’s salary cap has generally gone up by about $10-$11 each year for a while now. 2021 saw it go down due to lost revenues in 2020 from the COVID-19 pandemic, and projections for 2022 were understandably conservative.

https://insidethestar.com/what-does-nfls-208m-salary-cap-ceiling-for-2022-mean-for-cowboys/

I see lots of "they all get the same bump, so it's a wash". It's not.

Teams with more players locked into more contracts benefit more with an unexpected cap increase. Contracts based on the older and lower wage scale will be better than new contracts written on the new wage scale.

Some of what Jerry has been doing for years looked like he was locking guys in to the old wage scale, expecting a big cap boost. That turned out to be a bad bet when Covid dropped the wage scale. The new increases are making it less bad.
 

TwoCentPlain

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I think he would have to lead the league in rushing and have an MVP-level season for their to even be a prayer of anyone trading for that contract.

It’s the Cowboys’ mistake and nobody is lining up to take it off their hands.

Like I said, if the Cowboys eat some of the contract base salary, then he is very tradeable.
 

big dog cowboy

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What Does NFL’s $208M Salary Cap Ceiling for 2022 Mean for Cowboys?

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Hoofbite

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Like I said, if the Cowboys eat some of the contract base salary, then he is very tradeable.

Can you even do that? Not that I follow what contracts look like after trades, but I can't remember a time when a team did that. Base salaries are paid out over the course of the season. Why would Dallas both take the hit in terms of remaining prorated money, and also pay the guy to play on another team?
 

plymkr

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The team could cut or trade him post June 1. Go to spotrac and search Elliott. 2022 would be a wash with $16M in dead cap but saving $16M on cap. 2023 would see $6M in further dead cap. Trading him is much easier on the cap. Cowboys could sweeten a trade by eating some of Elliott’s contract.
Thanks for the info. Either way I'm really hoping Zeke starts playing up to his contract then we won't have to worry about it.
 

leeblair

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Yesterday the NFL and the NFLPA announced their agreement on a salary cap “ceiling’ for 2022 of $208.2 million. What does this figure, a potential major increase over previous projections, mean for the Dallas Cowboys now and next season?

You’ve probably already seen articles about Dallas having one of the worst cap situations in the league for 2022. Doom and gloom projections that showed the Cowboys anywhere from roughly $24-$34 million over the cap have cycled since QB Dak Prescott got his massive new deal last March.

Hopefully you’ve also seen the work of various Cowboys writers explaining that the team has several ways to deal with that problem. There is a lot of room in Dak’s contract, plus those of WR Amari Cooper, DE DeMarcus Lawrence, G Zack Martin, and others for restructuring and creating sufficient salary cap space to get back in the black in 2022.

Plus, if needed, the Cowboys can make some business decisions on the contracts of LB Jaylon Smith, CB Anthony Brown, and some other potential cap casualties next year.

All of this was before yesterday’s news about the $208.2 cap ceiling. The recent “cap hell” projections were based on a 2022 salary cap of around $192.5 million; a $10 million increase from the official 2021 figure of $182.5 million.

The NFL’s salary cap has generally gone up by about $10-$11 each year for a while now. 2021 saw it go down due to lost revenues in 2020 from the COVID-19 pandemic, and projections for 2022 were understandably conservative.

https://insidethestar.com/what-does-nfls-208m-salary-cap-ceiling-for-2022-mean-for-cowboys/
Maybe the Cowboys will be able to sign a real quarterback then.
 

TwoCentPlain

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Can you even do that? Not that I follow what contracts look like after trades, but I can't remember a time when a team did that. Base salaries are paid out over the course of the season. Why would Dallas both take the hit in terms of remaining prorated money, and also pay the guy to play on another team?

Teams can and sometimes do that. Sometimes a team has to get rid of a contract and a player and the team makes the best out of a bad situation. Got to cut one's losses, so to speak.
 

Jarntt

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I think he would have to lead the league in rushing and have an MVP-level season for their to even be a prayer of anyone trading for that contract.

It’s the Cowboys’ mistake and nobody is lining up to take it off their hands.
Huh? You think if Zeke has a really good bounce back year, but not leading league in rushing or MVP type a team won't trade for him? They would get him on a one year $12M deal with no guaranteed money. After that they could go year to year and decide if he is worth $10M and $10M. Those 3 years would be a 3 year $32M deal with no guaranteed money and no dead money and could cut him at any time. If he bounces back he absolutely has value.
 

DandyDon52

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last year was 198 mil I thought, so this is just a 10 mil increase.
So it doesnt mean much.
It just means they have to get under that before the season starts.
 

gimmesix

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Next year is when I think we may see some actual cuts instead of restructure for cap relief.

Lawrence, JSmith....maybe Cooper.

Daks deal was no doubt done with a restructure in mind.

Of course Elliotts 2022 salary was guaranteed months ago.

Nice job on structure there Jerry....but, lots ball to be played before any of this happens

Likely will depend on several things, including the team's success. If the team is successful, then you do like Tampa and work to retain your players. That would mean some restructuring is necessary. If the team lays an egg, then you start looking at those cuts because you don't want to restructure just to retain status quo.
 

Stash

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Huh? You think if Zeke has a really good bounce back year, but not leading league in rushing or MVP type a team won't trade for him? They would get him on a one year $12M deal with no guaranteed money. After that they could go year to year and decide if he is worth $10M and $10M. Those 3 years would be a 3 year $32M deal with no guaranteed money and no dead money and could cut him at any time. If he bounces back he absolutely has value.

Yep! That’s exactly what I think. Zeke has now joined the group of mistake running back contracts that teams making them regret and nobody trades for.
 
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