Cowboys Save $62.9M in 2025 After 3 Players Take Pay Cuts to Remain with Team

The Dallas Cowboys offseason will almost surely be as frustrating and tumultuous as the last. We're just two days removed from the Super Bowl being played and we're already hearing vague rumblings of Micah Parsons being traded rather than extended. But what's worse is that Jerry Jones has also laid the groundwork for this to be another quiet Cowboys offseason in free agency and on the trade front.

It doesn't have to be that way, though. The Cowboys are about $2.38 million over the projected salary cap based on their Top 51 according to Spotrac. When you look at that, even if Zack Martin retires and is designated as a post-June 1 cut, Dallas doesn't have a ton of flexibility as things currently stand to go out and improve a roster. That's tough considering they need to with the losses of Martin, DeMarcus Lawrence and others set to leave this group a bit depleted.

Again, though, Jones and the Dallas front office can change that. With a few well-placed cuts or contract restructures, the Cowboys can open up a huge number of doors for their offseason to go out and improve the roster meaningfully. These three moves in particular would free up more than $60 million.

3. Restructuring CeeDee Lamb's deal lands Dallas $20.5 million in cap relief

After locking star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb up to a lucrative contract extension prior to the 2024 campaign, he's not going anywhere. And if we're being honest, he shouldn't be going anywhere for a long, long time. That's why Dallas looking to restructure his contract and add void years at the back end could behoove the Cowboys in the present in a major way.

Lamb, even with the quarterback uncertainty following the Dak Prescott injury this past season, Lamb still proved to be a star with 101 catches for 1,194 yards and six touchdowns. He's a true No. 1 in the offense and has only shown signs of getting better, not regressing. Making a commitment, even if it is just one year after signing the deal, that a restructure ultimately indicates would give the Cowboys more than $20 million extra in cap space this offseason.

Whether that money's used to fortify the offensive line, give Lamb a running mate incidentally at wide receiver that the offense can rely on, or fortifying the defense, it's far from a great risk to save that kind of money with a restructure.

2. Cutting Donovan Wilson would add another $5.3 million in cap space

There was a time when Donovan Wilson was an admittedly fun component of the secondary in Dan Quinn's defense. With the departure of Quinn, however, we saw the effectiveness of the veteran safety decline a bit (though that could truly be said of that safety group as a whole). Yes, he's a versatile piece that can line up deep or in the box but he's not nearly as high of a performer at this stage of his career.

Now, the Cowboys could cut the former sixth-round pick without any special designation and, according to Over the Cap, save $5.35 million with a $3.3 million dead cap charge. Considering that only Michael Gallup's dead money is the only charge over $500,000, that's something Dallas could certainly stomach, especially with a depleted value for safeties that could lead to a cheap upgrade from Wilson.

However, possible, the Cowboys should be keen on reshaping the secondary this offseason. Cutting Wilson and saving money against the cap in the process would go a long way toward being a terrific start in that process.

1. Restructuring Dak Prescott's contract gives the Cowboys $37.1 million more to spend

I'll be the first to admit that, whether I agree with the sentiment or not, the future of Dak Prescott with the Cowboys appears to be far murkier than with CeeDee Lamb, even if both are locked up under long-term contract extensions. With Jones manning the controls of this franchise, it feels as if he's never pot-committed to Prescott or, at minimum, wants his quarterback to feel that level of uncertainty for whatever reason.

As things currently stand, though, Dak is the future and the present for the Cowboys offense. He's not going anywhere on a contract that's already nearly impossible to get out of. Thus, restructuring his deal to tremendous financial benefit for Dallas makes sense. It's the cap gymnastics that great franchises use such as this. In order to improve the situation around Prescott, it will require further committing to the signal-caller.

Having said that, the prospect of $37.1 million in additional spending for Dallas this offseason would be massive. There are holes throughout this roster that need to be filled for the team to rebound after a dismal, injury-plagued season. Restructuring Dak's deal in conjunction with the rest of these moves is a big step toward making that happen.