My top 51 already includes K Dan Bailey with a 2014 RFA second round tender, estimated at $2.124M, which is the minimum 5% increase from 2013.
If the team elects to use the first round tender, it's estimated at $3.022M, a difference of $0.898K.
I also included P Chris Jones with an exclusive rights free agent tender ($570K, the 2014 2nd yr minimum).
The team will only need around $1.7M in additional room for its draft class.
Any time a new salary is added to the top 51 during the off-season, you also have to subtract the salary of the player getting replaced.
As an example, if we release Phil Costa (+ $1.5M), Ray Dominguez (- $0.495K) takes his place in the top 51 for a net savings of $1.005M.
Bryan Broaddus has said in the past Dallas likes to hold a couple of million in reserve to account for injuries during the season.
So, if we go with $13.3M in room as a starting point, it could decrease to $12.402M if Bailey is tendered at the 1st round level.
The draft choices will account for around $1.7M in room, which would drop the total available to $10.702M, but the rookies don't need to be signed right away and free agency begins in March whereas the draft is in May this year.
Austin's $5M plus in cap room (as a June cut) would also be available by the time the team started signing the rookies, which brings us to more than $15.702M.
Subtract $2M to hold in reserve for in-season injuries and we are looking at more than $13.702M
The only thing I can't account for is current players who met contract incentives in 2013 that aren't public record.
Barry Church has around $3M in incentives in his deal per a story today on the
Mothership.
I do know Sean Lee failed to play 80% of the defensive snaps, so he has not yet activated the 2015 salary escalator ($1.5M) in his contract which will bump his salary that year to $4M. He can still do it by playing 80% of the snaps in 2014.
Any such incentives met in 2013 that will effect the 2014 cap will eventually get leaked out.
2015? No, they don't.
2014? They do, at least when you go ahead and add on Dan Bailey and Chris Jones, as I did.
The team also has six players signed to futures deals at the moment, those are the salaries I used when needed for projected future moves like releasing Phil Costa, Justin Durant and Miles Austin.