Dallas Cowboys Restructure Contracts Before Free Agency, Draft

ARLINGTON, TX — The Dallas Cowboys have restructured several large contracts to open cap space as free agency is about to begin.

The Cowboys are in cap trouble, especially after placing the non-exclusive franchise tag on wide receiver George Pickens. To give them some breathing room, they have restructured the contracts of quarterback Dak Prescott and offensive guard Tyler Smith.

This reportedly gives Dallas about $47 million, and more is expected as it is also being reported that they are restructuring wide receiver CeeDee Lamb’s contract. Also on the list is defensive linemen Quinnen Williams and Osa Odighizuwa.

Should they resign Pickens, that could also open up some room because he is accounting for about $27 million in 2026.

Over the years, fans have used the term “cap hell” to describe the Cowboys’ cap room situation, but these monster contracts are set up to be restructured in the future.

If the Cowboys want to add new pieces to this roster, these moves had to be made. With only two picks in the top 100 of the upcoming NFL Draft, Dallas will either need to trade down to acquire more picks or use free agency, which begins on March 11.

Dallas is not one or two players away from a championship and will need to be active in free agency to improve. The past few years, they have waited around a couple weeks and picked up bargain-deal players to fill holes. Last season, they made trades and picked up former first-round selections in Payton Turner, Kenneth Murray and Kaiir Elam. Those did not quite work out.

With new defensive coordinator Christian Parker, who came from the Philadelphia Eagles' staff, names like Reed Blankenship and Jaelen Phillips make sense as they have familiarity with Parker from playing under him with the Eagles. Other names like Alontae Taylor and big names like Trey Hendrickson have been thrown around recently.

For the upcoming draft, arguments could be made to sit tight and take the best two defensive players available. At 12 and 20, where the Cowboys are currently picking, they should get two instant starters and upgrades, and Dallas would have the rights for possibly five years on a rookie contract.

On the other side of that coin, trading back would net Dallas more picks to fill holes on a porous defense. The only problem is that teams have to want to move up and offer the right package. That of course would mean the Cowboys’ draft board is wiped out to a point.

For example, if a team has three players available at 12, the furthest back they may want to trade back is to 14, as 12th and 13th could be two of those three players, and they want to make sure they get of them. If the offer is substantial to move back further, that would be something they consider while on the clock to make their pick. 

Many Cowboy fans will want as many offensive players as possible to go in the top 11 picks, and many teams at the top of the draft have needs at quarterback. Teams like the Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals , who have the top three picks, might want to look at signal callers or offensive tackles to protect their “bridge-the-gap” quarterbacks. At No. 4 and 5, the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants could look at giving their quarterback a weapon downfield to throw to. 

The Browns at sixth overall could use help everywhere on the offensive side of the ball.

The second opponent from the Cowboys' division to make a selection — after the Giants — is the Washington Commanders at No. 7, and they could use a receiver, but they could also take a front-seven piece for their defense. With former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn at the helm, he very well could take a player to bolster his defense.

At eighth, the New Orleans Saints could also go defense and might look at cornerback with Alontae Taylor hitting free agency. Ninth overall is the Kansas City Chiefs, who no doubt could use a receiver but have pending free agents in the secondary. At 10th, the Cincinnati Bengals need help and are about to let Trey Hendrickson walk so they could definitely use an edge defender. At 11th, the Miami Dolphins could look at quarterback or wide receiver.

Finally at 12th, the Cowboys need help on defense. The team had interviews with linebackers Scooby Williams (Texas A&M), Kendal Daniels (Oklahoma), CJ Allen (Georgia), Xavian Sorey (Arkansas), Josiah Trotter (Missouri), Jacob Rodriguez (Texas Tech), Arvell Reese (Ohio State), Sonny Styles (Ohio State), Harold Perkins Jr. (LSU) and Kaleb Elarms-Orr (TCU). The Cowboys also had informal interviews with linebackers Bryce Boettcher (Oregon), Lander Barton (Utah), Owen Heinecke (Oklahoma), Jack Kelly (BYU) and Deontae Lawson (Alabama).

Other players they’ve spoken to include Darrell Jackson, Peter Woods, Zxavian Harris, Nick Barrett and Gary Smith at defensive tackle, and Rueben Bain Jr., Cashius Howell, David Bailey, Keyron Crawford, Josh Josephs, Zion Young and Malachi Lawrence at defensive end.

A player to keep an eye on is Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, who was reportedly flagged with a knee concern at the NFL Combine. The reward may outweigh the risks with Downs.

As we get close to the draft, the Cowboys will get more interviews with players, especially at Dallas Day, which has been a pretty telling list the past few seasons.

It is easy to look at the Cowboys roster and say they need defensive help, but offensive help should not be overlooked. While Javonte Williams did help the running game, Dallas made it pretty well known they were going to improve the ground game with the coaching staff they hired. If an offensive lineman falls or Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love is there, they can help their defense by keeping them off the field as much as possible.

Free agency begins on March 11, and the draft begins on April 23.