Report: Zack Martin and Trevon Diggs’ contracts will be restructured by the Cowboys.
The Cowboys appear to have some sort of strategy in place for creating salary cap room.
The Dallas Cowboys’ second week of the offseason is coming to an end, and contract chatter is all over the place. The topics of conversation this hour revolve around Dak Prescott’s contract dilemma. In an effort to relieve the salary cap, numerous articles have already been written by beat writers explaining why the Cowboys do not need to extend Dak Prescott this offseason (our own Brandon Loree covered the notion here). If they feel like it, they are free to reorganize him.
Whether Dak Prescott’s contract is ultimately extended or restructured, the Cowboys will ultimately need to take action. Not to go too dramatic, but any decision they make will have a big impact on the offseason as a whole.
However, the Cowboys can also find some cash in other places.
The Cowboys appear to have laid out their basic financial plan.
While talking about the Dak Prescott scenario, ESPN’s Todd Archer shrewdly outlined the possibilities that are, as of right now, in front of the Cowboys. Reorganize or expand. Remaining silent is not likely to be an option.
But while talking about it, Archer revealed a few more financial secrets about the Cowboys, mentioning in particular that they already have plans to rework the contracts for Trevon Diggs and Zack Martin.
In order to free up roughly $20 million in salary space, the Cowboys already have plans to restructure the contracts of All-Pro guard Zack Martin and cornerback Trevon Diggs, who is recovering from an ACL tear. They are also able to rework Terence Steele’s right tackle contract. They would not add that room until June, but they could gain $9.5 million by designating wide receiver Michael Gallup as a post-June 1 cut.
They can actually cut CeeDee Lamb’s $17.99 million cap figure and make him the highest-paid receiver in the league by signing him to an extension. Lamb is an All-Pro receiver.
Although there are ways to get over the cap and continue funding projects into the future, it is not a myth.
While it’s common knowledge that a Dak decision holds great significance, it’s also beneficial to clarify this. Right now, Dallas’ salary cap space is close to $20 million in the hole, according to Over the Cap, so any flexibility is appreciated. It appears that the Martin and Diggs restructuring will, in a sense, start from scratch for Dallas.
Although nothing is set in stone, Archer is a highly reliable source of financial information, so all of these developments—including the Steele reorganization and Michael Gallup’s departure—seem likely to occur. To be honest, these are by no means radical suggestions, but they do appear to be a first step Dallas may take in order to have cap room to experiment with. As he also mentioned, if the organization chooses to go with Dak Prescott’s restructuring route, they can also generate an additional $18 million in room.
How will this be used by the Cowboys? Nothing very exciting or flashy, according to conventional thought, but contemporary reasoning indicates that they should throw caution to the wind and focus entirely on the 2024 season. Maybe they are actually thinking about that now, at the very least.
The map is beginning to take shape right now; it remains to be seen which precise paths the Cowboys finally choose.
