Does Dak Deal Mean Cowboys Can't Sign Anybody?

Does Dak Prescott Tag Deal Mean The Dallas Cowboys Now Can't Sign Anybody Else?

FRISCO - You can take this as Dallas Cowboys gospel: They’re not done trying to add talent to the 2020 roster. You can at the same time contemplate salary-cap math to easily understand while the absence of a long-term deal for Dak Prescott hurts that pursuit.

But it does put limitations on the pursuit.

That’s all our friendly colleague Tom Pelissero from NFL Network is really trying to say when he notes (on Ian Rapoport’s podcast) that “not getting a deal done with Dak hampers their ability to be able to do that.”

Tom’s comment has unfortunately caused overreaction from Cowboys Nation (so what else is new?), re-framing the comment into meaning that Dallas is done shopping.

And that's simply wrong.

Pelissero in fact confirms what we've written in this space many times: The Cowboys, he says, "have maintained interest in free agents. I can tell you that for a fact.''

Yup. Of course they have. And they've "maintained interest'' in disgruntled safety Jamal Adams, too. 

Adams isn't a free agent. But he's a long-shot New York Jets trade candidate who wishes he was in Dallas. And if you believe the bogus reports that Dallas has "no interest'' here? We'll put it this way: A GM of an NFL team who has "no interest'' in 24-year-old All-Pros should be fired.

Jadeveon Clowney or Everson Griffen? We've been told by Cowboys sources to not waste too much time there. But the idea in general of adding talent? That's an on-going process. And it doesn't stop just because Dak is now eating up (the planned) $31.409 million of cap.

The numbers we've printed in the past about what would've happened to that $31.4 million in the event of a long-term deal? We figured Dak's 2020 cap hit would likely have been reduced to $25 million in 2020. 

That would've been a $6 million savings. And $6 million of cap room would've come in handy.

But as it stands, Dallas is under the cap, with our understanding being in the range of $7 million to $11 million. That - and a handful of moves the Cowboys could make - allow plenty of freedom to make improvements, big and small, affordable and expensive.

The Cowboys' non-deal with Dak Prescott "hampers'' things. It doesn't "block'' anything - and should not be utilized as an excuse for passivity or inactivity.