Cowboys Moves: 5 Steps to $50 Million Cap Space

The Dallas Cowboys will have to make tough decisions in order to clear up salary cap room. Starting with Dak Prescott, here are five big steps.

The Dallas Cowboys are currently $7 million over the 2023 salary cap of $224.8 million, according to the projections by OverTheCap. ... which has some critics moaning about the Cowboys being in "Cap Hell.''

But it really isn't so. About half of the NFL's teams are presently "over the cap,'' and will work to be cap-compliant by the start of NFL business in March.

And the Cowboys? With a few moves - five of them, essentially, with some of them "flipping the switch'' and only one of them actually requiring "negotiation'' - they can create a $50 million in cap space.

And Dallas will be in business.

The five moves ... 

Cut Tyron Smith - Save $13.6 million 

Tough decisions will have to be made, one of the toughest being the decision on Tyron Smith. The former left tackle turned right tackle will cost $17.6 million against the cap at the age of 33, while the Cowboys have two younger, cheaper options they believe could be ready to take over. 

With Tyler Smith exceeding expectations at left tackle as a rookie, and if all goes well in the rehab of Terence Steele (who is a restricted free agent), a post-June 1st cut of Tyron could save Dallas over $13 million.

Again, though, this one comes with Jones family emotion. Tyron and the Joneses feel indebted to one another, on a personal level. A goodbye to Tyron will, for Jerry Jones, rank right there with his painful partings with favorites like Tony Romo and DeMarcus Ware. 

Cut Ezekiel Elliott - Save $10.9 million 

The Cowboys are in a predicament at running back with Tony Pollard's contract up after his emergence as the true No. 1 back. ... Thus leaving Elliott as a potential cut candidate due to his $16 million cap hit. 

A post-June 1st cut of Elliott looks to be the most likely remedy to any financial problems that the Cowboys have, and (thinking in a linear way) with that 10.9 million in savings, they would fund the franchise tag for Pollard. 

Cut Jourdan Lewis - $4 million 

What seemed like a far-fetched idea in the immediate aftermath of his Lisfranc injury that ended his season and sent the Cowboys scrambling for replacements could now be a real possibility. 

For one, cutting Lewis would save $4 million while absorbing just over $1 million in dead money. But the emergence of DaRon Bland, one of the players Dallas relied upon after Lewis's injury, and even Israel Mukuamu, who played nickel corner in the post-season, could mean Lewis is the odd-man out.

Restructure Zach Martin - Save $9 million 

The Cowboys could also restructure some contracts. For example, by restructuring the contract of right guard Zach Martin, they could save $9 million. 

This works for Martin because at age 32, the Cowboys can envision him continuing to play even into his additional contractual years.

By the way: Dallas can do the same with DeMarcus Lawrence, Michael Gallup and others. But based on age (Tank) and performance (Gallup), the commitment here is less appealing.

Extend Dak Prescott - Save $22 million

And one more tool: An extension for Dak Prescott. Dallas is locked into the QB, almost no matter what, and part of the long-term plan all along was, right about at this time, to create an extension beyond the two more contractual years that presently exist.

This is less "controversial'' than it seems, and maybe the Cowboys add fuel to that fire by saying things like, "10 more years of Dak.'' But "five more years of Dak'' under contract would give Dallas 2023 cap space of $22 million.

Add it up. Using all of these moves, Dallas can get to the business of roster-building, starting of course with "sign our own's'' (prioritizing Pollard, Steele, Leighton Vander Esch, Donovan Wilson, Connor McGovern and maybe Dalton Schultz) ... while also eyeing what do do now that CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs are extension-eligible ... by having $50 million in new cap room.

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