One of the most misunderstood things this off-season is the belief that Dallas couldn’t sign FAs because of Dak’s contract and cap space. That is false.
In an article for Cowboys Wire, NFL writer and cap guru KD Drummond made crystal clear that the Cowboys could have cleared $65 million in cap space WITHOUT extending Dak’s contract at all. Drummond said in the article:
“The Cowboys aren’t beholden to anything here, though clearly a long-term agreement with Prescott would be the best way to create the most additional cap space. Remember though, Dak Prescott currently has two void years on his deal and like what they did with Zack Martin, they likely have language built in to add one or two more void years, allowing them to convert Prescott’s salary into a restructure bonus, adding more cap space.”
In other words, the “void years” language allows the Cowboys to convert this year’s contract money for Dak into a “bonus” then take that amount off their cap space. The Cowboys could have also done this with several other larger contracts like Trevon Diggs, Cedee Lamb, Donovan Wilson, and others.
The front office CHOSE not to do that.
Look, I’m as ready as anyone to see a different QB under center for us. But the lack of cap space for free agency was a choice this front office made that is on them and them alone.
Here‘s the article link I was referencing:
https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/li...65m-cap-space-without-extending-dak-prescott/