3 ways the Dallas Cowboys afford Jamal Adams without breaking the cap

How the Dallas Cowboys afford Jamal Adams Reason No 3

Use and Abuse Him

We can file this under, “things Dallas should have done with Ezekiel Elliott”. If the Dallas Cowboys just want to load up for what we think is their championship window, the may just want to use Jamal Adams for the short-term and let him walk without ever extending him.

Adams is said to want top-of-the-market pay on his next deal – possibly north of $17 million per season. That’s a lot of money at safety, even if he does deserve it. Maybe Dallas opts to franchise tag him in 2022 keeping him a third season, and are fine letting him leave in free agency in 2023.

Such a move would keep them from committing too far into the future, but still keep him on hand through the Cowboys championship window. It would infuriate Jamal Adams, little doubt about that, but at the end of the day, he’d play on the tag if the Dallas Cowboys contractually stated they would not tag him twice.

if Dallas decided to be jerks in this whole thing, they could get Jamal Adams for the next three seasons at $10.5 million per season

With a cap charge of roughly $7 million this season, almost $10 million in 2021, and the franchise tag in 2022, the Dallas Cowboys could employ the best safety in the NFL throughout the prime of career and not have to commit to anything in future.

Since safety is one of the least valued positions in the NFL, the franchise tag is one of the lowest. In 2020 the cost to tag a safety is just $12.7 million. That’s pretty far below the alternative $17 per season asking price, right?

Clearly, that $12.7 million will be higher in 2022, but it’s hard to envision it much higher than $15 million. So at the end of the day, if Dallas decided to be jerks in this whole thing, they could get Jamal Adams for the next three seasons at $10.5 million per season, face no dead money in 2023 and receive a third round compensatory pick in 2024.

More from Dallas Cowboys

• Dallas Cowboys Linebackers: 2023 Position Overview
• Ballhawk University: Why the Cowboys will be takeaway leaders
• Dallas Cowboys Player to Watch: Sleeper TE John Stephens, Jr.
• Dallas Cowboys: The impact of Micah Parsons and a well-rounded secondary
• Dallas Cowboys still unsure about their left guard position for 2023

Or maybe they franchise him in 2022 and teams start kicking the tires like they are this offseason. Dallas could potentially flip him for a first or second rounder that year and get back the bulk of their trade investment. Adams would still be in the prime of his career so his value would still be high, and playing on the Dallas Cowboys (and hopefully in the postseason) would even increase his league-wide exposure – thus boosting value.

Again, it would be a pretty jerky thing to do to a guy trying to escape a similar situation but it would be financially ideal and give the Cowboys a ton of wiggle room down the road when the future of the roster and the league are murky.

So there we are. Three ways the Dallas Cowboys can afford to pay Jamal Adams without plunging the franchise into cap hell. Some are better than others but all of them involve locking Dak Prescott up long-term.