Cowboys Have NFL's 2nd-Most Cap Space; What's Jerry Jones' 'Dry Powder' Plan?

The Cowboys are sitting pretty in terms of cap space as camps commence.

As AC/DC once said, money talks ... and so do the Dallas Cowboys' top decision-makers.

The team's excess cap space, currently second in the NFL at just over $22.4 million (best in the NFC and behind only the $48 million-plus in Cleveland), was among the many topics addressed by Jerry and Stephen Jones in their first statements of the Cowboys training camp proceedings in Oxnard. 

Though Dallas has been pegged by many to repeat as NFC East division champions (still searching for their first repeat since a five-year streak between 1992 and 1996), their opening Oxnard roster features several areas for improvement: some feel Dallas' receiving and tight end depth could use some help while the linebackers and interior defensive line could likewise use some bolstering.

COO Stephen Jones was hopeful about the state of the current Cowboys roster, namely praising the influx of young players taking on bigger roles like CeeDee Lamb, Terence Steele, Tyler Smith, Matt, Waletzko, Josh Ball, and Dorance Armstrong. 

He nonetheless hinted that if Dallas found a way and means to use their money, they would not hesitate to do so. 

Said Stephen: "We certainly do have some dry powder if we need to use it. I’ve always said about cap space it’s where you’ve massaged it to that point. I mean, you can create cap space. You can not have cap space if you want to have it out there where you want it looking like you can’t create it when you want to. But I do think we’re sitting in a good spot, one, to see what these young players can do, but, two, if we need to make improvements to this roster, and there’s opportunities to do that, then we’ll look at it.”

The elder Jones echoed his son's "dry powder" viewpoint but hinted that the cap space might prove to be an asset in the future ... with cap space rolling over.

CowboysSI.com has been told specifically that money is being "earmarked'' for the eventual contracts that will go to young stars like Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs.

"We've got a little dry powder (but) that’s not necessarily for this season," Jerry Jones said. "That cap room is for (the) future as well. We all know that. And, so, you sum all of that up. And you got our best shot today as we go. Tomorrow is another day and we, not that we have anything in mind, but I do believe in changing your mind and would in a second if it would help our team.”

His response about cap space was part of a query that asked Jerry if he had not been "living in the moment" since the Cowboys' failure to secure consecutive playoff appearances since the 2006-07 campaigns. 

As if further projecting his plan for Dallas' surplus, Jerry Jones remarked that he was never one to analyze his shortcomings for any lingering period, calling such propensities a "curse."

"I don’t spend a lot of time on my mess-ups or what didn’t go right ... I really do go to the successes," he said. "Today is today and this season is this season. We’re here. Some of us aren’t here. And, so, that motivates me to live in the day. So, we’re going to give it everything we’ve got.

We’re giving it everything we got. If we could have spent everything we had available in the cap and we could have spent it and mortgaged it some more if I thought it was the best way to win this year or win in the immediate future, then we would have done it."

Dallas will open its preseason proceedings on Aug. 13, when they take on the Denver Broncos (8 p.m. CT, KTVT/NFL Network).

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