The Cowboys Could Still Double Their Cap Room

The Cowboys could double their free agent spending cash through roster cuts and restructuring long-term contracts

The Dallas Cowboys enter the free agent signing period with money to spend. Armed with an estimated $10,754,100 in cap space (according to Sportac.com), the Cowboys can more than double their spending cash by cutting and restructuring a few select players.

The Cowboys will also carry over $4.5M in unspent cap space from last season but virtually all of that will be used to sign their draft picks from this April’s upcoming draft making it essentially a wash when looking at free agency.

Rumors have been swirling about the future of cornerback Brandon Carr for two seasons now. Now, in his last year of his epically-terrible $5yr/$50M deal, it appears Carr is finally on his way out of Dallas. As NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported, the Cowboys are expected to release Carr barring a last-minute change of mind.

When Carr is inevitably released, he will save the Cowboys $6,383,000 (but still cost $7,434,000 in guaranteed money). The Cowboys may not need over $16M in free agency but if the right players tickle their fancy, they have ways of creating even more space.

Players like Barry Church and Terrell McClain are also players who may be considered for an early employment termination although it’s unlikely given the limited savings they would offer and their solid contributions on the field.

Related Story: Dallas Cowboys Who Could Be Cut in 2016

Again, since the Dallas Cowboys are already far under the cap, they aren’t forced to cut/restructure anyone.  But if the Cowboys see free agent players who offer a significant upgrade and/or better bang for the buck, they could easily opt to release and replace said player (like Brandon Carr).

Dallas Cowboys Most Likely to be Restructured

Restructuring large multi-year deals is another way to free up extra cash now. Players like Tony Romo, Tyron Smith, Dez Bryant, and Tyrone Crawford are all operating within the early years of their current contracts. Together with Carr they also represent the five highest salary cap hits in 2016.

If the Dallas Cowboys’ needs outweigh their resources, they may want to proactively restructure a few of these deals. Typical restructuring is nothing new and fairly commonplace these days. They usually consist of the following criteria:

• They feature unlikely-to-be-cut players – Restructuring a contract to free money for the current season, in an essence, kicks the can down the road. It doesn’t pay the player any less total money – it just moves it in the books to a different year. Very rarely will it remove guaranteed money (the NFL Players union would a have fit if they tried) and it’s actually more likely to add guaranteed money.

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If a team restructures a player’s contract, and soon after, cut that said player, they eat the remaining portion of guaranteed money. If anything, a restructured contract safeguards a player’s place on the team since it makes it more difficult to cut him down the road.

Frankly, that’s the only thing that saved Brandon Carr from being cut last offseason.

• They happen in the early years of high-dollar, multi-year contracts- Most restructuring is done to large, multi-year deals because the more years remaining on the deal, the more years that figure can be spread across. If a team wanted to move $5M off this season’s books, they would rather do it with a player with five years remaining rather than two years remaining.

Example: $5M pushed back over 5 years would add only $1M per remaining season

$5M pushed back over 2 years would add $2.5M per remaining season.

• They happen to younger players – Pushing money back on contracts owned by aging veterans can be risky business. The sun usually sets suddenly on NFL players and the last thing you want is a back-loaded contract of guaranteed cash on a player too old to play.

Note: That’s why Tony Romo and Jason Witten are horrible options to restructure.

Based on these criteria, I think it’s possible the Dallas Cowboys would restructure Dez Bryant and Tyron Smith this offseason. Both players are in the early portions of their deals, both players are on the books for a substantial amount of money ($13M and $14M, respectively), and both players are still young and in their primes.

The good news is the Cowboys aren’t required to act immediately. They can test free agency by checking the market value of a few desirable players. If they can come to an agreement with a player or two, and can’t fit it under the cap, they can quickly and easily restructure a deal or two to make it all work out.

If they can fit all of their free agent shopping under the predicted $16M+, then no restructuring is necessary.

Next: Will Sean Smith Replace Brandon Carr at CB?

Restructuring isn’t ideal but it is perfectly manageable. It’s hard to tell if the Cowboys are in full-on “win now” mode or if they are still pridefully operating with fiscal responsibility. Either way, they are a good situation where they have complete financial control.