Dallas Cowboys: New deals prove Salary Cap more Boogie Man than limit

After a landslide of enormous contract extensions and still plenty of money to spend, it’s become clear the salary cap is more boogie man than hard and fast limit for the Dallas Cowboys

For roughly the past 12 months we have been hearing, with so many core players on the cusp of free agency, the Dallas Cowboys are on the verge of salary cap disaster. Even Cowboys Nation itself was in a panic about the going rate for starting quarterback, a star RB, star WR, star DE, a CB1, and a pair of star LBs.

For months we’ve been hearing about how the Dallas Cowboys will have to choose between their stars, because unless they are all willing to take considerably less than market value, the Dallas Cowboys would be unable to afford much more than half of them. Poppycock.

Sorry, I always wanted to drop a slightly scolding “poppycock” upon my naysaying brethren.

As explained earlier in the offseason, the salary cap is fake news. Its existence is to give the illusion of a limit, without actually imposing a hard and fast limit. It’s not that the salary cap is complete fiction. It’s just that its steadfastness and inflexibility are greatly exaggerated.

Teams can manipulate it in multiple ways in order to sign just about whomever they want. And as long as players perform up to standard and stay healthy, it’s really difficult to get into cap trouble as a team. It’s sudden performance declines and significant injuries that ultimately hurt a team’s cap (largely because of the adjustments needed to overcome underperformance and injury).

For more on how to manipulate the Cap, check out: The Salary Cap is Fake News

While the Dallas Cowboys have yet to sign two players who are expected to be their most costly, Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, they still possess plenty of funds to be able to do so. Even if that amount is near market-settling.

And that’s not only on the heels of an Ezekiel Elliott extension, but it comes after DeMarcus Lawrence’s megadeal, Jaylon Smith’s preemptive extension, and La’el Collins’ surprising extension.

All of these contracts are market-settling or near market-setting, but they’re structured in a way they are team-friendly and generally escapable should the Dallas Cowboys need to cut bait. Perhaps most importantly, these deals aren’t overly back-loaded (which is difficult anyway given the impending CBA situation and the 30% rule) and theoretically could be seen through to the end (although Zeke’s is kinda doubtful).

Owners created the cap to save them from each other and to limit their spending more than to create competitive balance. They will cite the cap as a handcuff and a reason for players to compromise on their demands, but the reality is it’s nothing more than a boogie man they use to scare players into submission.

Perhaps I’m being extreme and a little melodramatic, but I think you catch my drift. Even people like me who spoke up aggressively about how the Dallas Cowboys could sign EVERYONE if the wanted to, didn’t see the La’el Collins deal as a possibility. I thought they’d have to let some good players walk somewhere in order to stay comfortable long-term. But after seeing these deals and they way they are structured, it’s clear the Cowboys can maintain LazyBoy comfort and still keep all their players.

Don’t worry Cowboys Nation. These deals are fantastic. The players are happy and the team is in full control. If the last two go down anything like these did, the Dallas Cowboys will be sitting pretty for a very long time to come.

• Published on 09/05/2019 at 12:15 PM
• Last updated at 09/06/2019 at 11:14 AM