The Dallas Cowboys are staring at a supposed salary cap problem, but I don’t see it that way. They’re projected to be more than $30 million over the cap.
That may sound alarming to some, but to me, it sounds like a math problem with a crystal clear solution: a Dak Prescott contract restructure.
Dak signed a 4-year, $240 million extension that included an $80 million signing bonus. His cap hit sits north of $50.5 million, and when you’re over the cap, that number becomes the obvious place to look.
Let’s all be on the same page here: a Dak Prescott restructure is not a pay cut.
Why a Dak Contract Restructure Is Not a Pay Cut
A Dak Prescott contract restructure would not mean he’s taking less money.
Most NFL contracts allow teams to convert base salary into a signing bonus at their discretion. That signing bonus is then prorated over the remaining years of the contract for cap purposes.
Dak gets his cash, but the accounting changes.
I want this to be a point of emphasis because some fans think the quarterback has to agree to sacrifice money. In a standard restructure, that’s not the case. The mechanism is built into the contract language.
Dallas controls the decision, and that is why I think this move is realistic.
What the Cap Math Looks Like
If the Cowboys convert $25 million of Dak’s base salary into a signing bonus and spread it over the three remaining seasons:
That becomes roughly $8.3 million per year in prorated cap charge.
Immediate cap savings would be about $16–17 million.
That alone almost cuts the projected deficit in half.
Let’s say they decide to get crazy and go aggressive. They could convert $45 million:
That would spread about $15 million per year for the next three seasons.
Immediate cap savings would be roughly $30 million.
Now we are talking about solving the entire projected overage in one move.
When a team is headed towards being $30 million over the cap, this type of move isn’t a luxury, it is survival.
The Patrick Mahomes Blueprint
The Kansas City Chiefs just showed us exactly how this works.
They restructured Patrick Mahomes’ contract and freed up over $43 million in cap space.
Mahomes didn’t take a pay cut, he didn’t negotiate for less money. Kansas City just converted salary into a bonus and pushed the cap charges forward.
That’s what smart franchises do when they feel like their championship window is open.
Why the Cowboys Should Act Like Contenders
I want everyone to know restructures are not free. They just push the cap charges into future seasons.
If performance drops or injuries happen, those future numbers can hurt.
Speaking of injuries and Dak Prescott, K.D. Drummond over at CowboysWire had an interesting article talking about Prescott’s injury history and how this coming season could be a bad year for the quarterback.
A Dak injury would be catastrophic for this team and the future if the restructure is finished.
But let’s be honest. What does this team have to lose at this point?
The core is intact offensively, the defense should be more competitive than last season. The window is now.
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