{"id":812202,"date":"2026-03-14T17:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T17:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/812202\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T17:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T17:16:20","slug":"dallas-cowboys-free-agency-spending-compared-to-last-year-may-be-a-shock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/812202\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Cowboys free agency spending compared to last year may be a shock"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speaking at the NFL combine this year, Jerry Jones hinted at what some thought would be a free agency spending spree this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would bet that we will spend more money in free agency than we have,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI want to do everything we possibly can to stop somebody and to basically win some third downs more than we did last year. And so I think that would be the area that you would see me bust the budget,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

The first thing to note, and the thing that almost everybody ignored, is that Jones was speaking specifically about busting the budget to win on third down. On defense, that would likely be about investing mostly in the defensive line, and that certainly has happened.<\/p>\n

However, the general assumption was that \u201cbusting the budget\u201d meant significantly exceeding this year\u2019s salary cap. But the way things are going, the Cowboys aren\u2019t even spending at last year\u2019s level on player acquisition.<\/p>\n

This post was written on Saturday, March 14, which is the sixth day of free agency – the legal tampering period began on Monday, March 9, with free agency \u201cofficially\u201d opening on Wednesday – and so far the Cowboys have spent a little over $145 million in total contract value on internal and external free agents (some contract data is still missing). By the sixth day of free agency last year, they had already spent $156 million.<\/p>\n

Nobody is busting anything right now.<\/p>\n

The table below summarizes the team\u2019s activity in 2025 and 2026. The timeline indicates on which day a deal was reported, which is not necessarily the date of the official signing. In addition to the total contract value for each player, the table also shows the Year 1 cash spend for each player as best as I could find it. This is usually the sum of the signing bonus and year one salary at the time the contract was signed.<\/p>\n

Timeline
\n2025
\n\u00a0
\n2026<\/p>\n

Date
\nPos
\nPlayer
\nContract Value
\nCash (Year 1)
\n\u00a0
\nDate
\nPOS
\nPlayer
\nContract Value
\nCash (Year 1)<\/p>\n

Pre-Free Agency
\nMarch 4
\nCB
\nC.J. Goodwin (re-signed)
\n1,255,000
\n1,255,000
\n\u00a0
\nFebruary 14
\nRB
\nJavonte Williams (re-signed)
\n24,000,000
\n8,750,000<\/p>\n

March 4
\nDT
\nOsa Odighizuwa (resigned)
\n80,000,000
\n21,750,000
\n\u00a0
\nFebruary 27
\nWR
\nGeorge Pickens (tagged)
\n27,298,000
\n27,298,000<\/p>\n

March 5
\nOL
\nBrock Hoffman (re-signed)
\n1,100,000
\n1,100,000
\n\u00a0
\nMarch 7
\nK
\nBrandon Aubrey (tendered)
\n5,760,000
\n5,760,000<\/p>\n

March 5
\nS
\nJuanyeh Thomas (resigned)
\n1,030,000
\n1,030,000
\n\u00a0
\nMarch 7
\nOL
\nT,J, Bass (tendered)
\n5,760,000
\n5,760,000<\/p>\n

March 5
\nDE
\nTyrus Wheat (re-signed)
\n1,030,000
\n1,030,000
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

March 9
\nS
\nMarkquese Bell (re-signed)
\n9,000,000
\n3,700,000
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

Free Agency Day 1
\nMarch 10
\nRB
\nJavonte Williams
\n3,000,000
\n3,000,000
\n\u00a0
\nMarch 9
\nDE
\nRashan Gary (via trade)
\n32,000,000
\n15,000,000<\/p>\n

March 10
\nLS
\nTrent Sieg (re-signed)
\n4,450,000
\n1,805,000
\n\u00a0
\nMarch 9
\nS
\nJalen Thompson
\n33,000,000
\n12,500,000<\/p>\n

Day 2
\nMarch 11
\nDT
\nSolomon Thomas
\n6,000,000
\n3,000,000
\n\u00a0
\nMarch 10
\nS
\nP.J. Locke
\n5,000,000
\n5,000,000<\/p>\n

March 11
\nDE
\nPayton Turner
\n2,500,000
\n2,500,000
\n\u00a0
\nMarch 10
\nDT
\nOtito Ogbonnia
\n3,000,000
\n3,000,000<\/p>\n

March 11
\nOL
\nRobert Jones
\n3,750,000
\n3,750,000
\n\u00a0
\nMarch 10
\nDE
\nSam Williams (re-signed)
\n2,500,000
\n2,500,000<\/p>\n

March 11
\nKR
\nKavontae Turpin (re-signed)
\n13,500,000
\n5,000,000
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

March 11
\nP
\nBryan Anger (re-signed)
\n6,400,000
\n3,300,000
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

Day 3
\nMarch 12
\nLB
\nKenneth Murray (via trade)
\n7,500,000
\n7,500,000
\n\u00a0
\nMarch 11
\nDE
\nTyrus Wheat
\n1,755,000
\n1,755,000<\/p>\n

March 12
\nCB
\nKaiir Elam (via trade)
\n1,100,000
\n1,100,000
\n\u00a0
\nMarch 11
\nQB
\nSam Howell
\ntbd
\ntbd<\/p>\n

March 12
\nLB
\nJack Sanborn
\n1,500,000
\n1,500,000
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

Day 4
\nMarch 13
\nOL\u00a0
\nDakoda Shepley
\n2,315,000
\n1,157,500
\n\u00a0
\nMarch 12
\nCB
\nCobie Durant
\n5,500,000
\n5,500,000<\/p>\n

March 13
\nS
\nIsrael Mukuamu (re-signed)
\n1,750,000
\n1,750,000
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

Day 5
\nMarch 14
\nDE
\nDante Fowler
\n6,000,000
\n6,000,000
\n\u00a0
\nMarch 13
\nOL
\nMatt Hennessy
\ntbd
\ntbd<\/p>\n

March 14
\nRB
\nMiles Sanders
\n1,337,500
\n1,337,500
\n\u00a0
\nMarch 13
\nTE
\nPrinceton Fant (re-signed)
\ntbd
\ntbd<\/p>\n

Day 6
\nMarch 15
\nWR
\nParris Campbell
\n1,337,500
\n1,337,500
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

Total
\n155,855,000
\n73,902,500
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n145,573,000
\n91,068,000 <\/p>\n

You\u2019ll have quickly noticed that the table contains both internal and external free agents, and some have argued that we should only be looking at external signings. But both are signed from the same budget, so for cap purposes they are the same.<\/p>\n

As it stands today, the Cowboys have spent less in total contract value this year than they did last year. And the contract value numbers aren\u2019t going to change much once the contracts for Howell, Hennessy, and Fant come in.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean the Cowboys didn\u2019t get better this year. There is a significant difference in the quality of free agents they\u2019ve signed versus last year, when they signed a bunch of bargain guys instead of actual NFL players. And yes, the numbers would look different had they signed Maxx Crosby or one of the premier linebackers they were after, but close doesn\u2019t count. And yes, they still have two first-round picks and a third that can be used in a trade or to draft more quality defensive players. And yes, you could argue the 2025 numbers are inflated by Odighuzuwa\u2019s contract, but that\u2019s pretty much the going price for a defensive tackle, internal or external.<\/p>\n

But the Cowboys didn\u2019t bust anything so far.<\/p>\n

And if you think they\u2019ll catch up to last year\u2019s spend in the coming days, weeks, or months, h0ld your horses. Because the Cowboys didn\u2019t stop signing players after the sixth day of free agency last year. These are the additions they made through May last year:<\/p>\n

Timeline
\n2025<\/p>\n

Date
\nPos
\nPlayer
\nContract Value
\nCash (Year 1)<\/p>\n

Post-Free Agency
\nMarch 4
\nCB
\nC.J. Goodwin (re-signed)
\n1,255,000
\n1,255,000<\/p>\n

April 3
\nQB
\nJoe Milton (via trade)
\n3,225,000
\n960,000<\/p>\n

April 09
\nOL
\nSaahdiq Charles
\n1,170,000
\n1,170,000<\/p>\n

April 17
\nOL
\nHakeem Adeneji
\n1,170,000
\n1,170,000<\/p>\n

April 25
\nOG
\nTyler Smith (fifth-year option)
\n23,400,000
\n23,400,000<\/p>\n

May 7
\nWR
\nGeorge Pickens (via trade)
\n3,656,000
\n3,656,000<\/p>\n

Total
\n32,621,000
\n30,356,000<\/p>\n

Tyler Smith would end up signing a new four-year, $96 million contract later in the year which lowered his Year 1 cash value to $17.6 million, but these are the numbers through May last year.<\/p>\n

The good news, if you will, is that the Cowboys could still hand out contracts worth about $43 million just to catch up to last year\u2019s spending, never mind busting anything.<\/p>\n

But how did we end up in a place where one side talks about busting the budget and the other side is disappointed about the amount of money spent in free agency?<\/p>\n

The first follow-up question to Jerry\u2019s \u201cbust the budget\u201d quote should have been \u201cWhat budget?\u201d<\/p>\n

Remember when Jerry Jones said in July 2024 that Lamb, Prescott, and Parsons (who were all waiting for contract extensions at the time) could account for up to 70% of the Cowboys payroll<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\u201cThose three players you mean could be 70 percent of all the money you got \u2014 70 percent of your payroll,\u201d<\/p>\n

Social media reaction was swift and merciless.<\/p>\n

Even with their eventual cap hits (Prescott: $60 million AAV, Lamb: $34 million, Parsons via GB: $46.5), the trio would not count more than 55% against the $255 million salary cap in 2024 – and there was always the possibility of restructuring those contracts to lower the cap hit.<\/p>\n

So, was Jerry Jones exaggerating for effect or maybe even outright lying?<\/p>\n

What most people fail to understand is that the Cowboys are a Cash-To-Cap team. Cash-To-Cap is the idea that your cash spend equals your salary cap every year. A cash-to-cap approach does not mean that you never prorate any part of a player\u2019s salary, that just isn\u2019t feasible in today\u2019s NFL with some of the megabucks contracts in play today. But you try to limit the use of contract devices aimed at pushing costs into future years.<\/p>\n

The benefit of a cash-to-cap approach is that, in principle, because you\u2019re only spending what you have available under the cap, you won\u2019t run into cap difficulties where you have to cut player contracts, reduce your spend on players salaries, or field a team full of players on rookie or league minimum contracts just to get under the cap. Cash-to-cap works to preserve cap flexibility in the future if, inevitably, contracts do not work out, and helps avoid future dead money.<\/p>\n

The other benefit, especially for the Jones family, is that you get to whine and moan publicly about the salary cap, you can liberally throw around the term \u201ccap hell\u201d in your off-the-record talks with local media, you can pontificate about the size of the salary cap pie, and much more – all because you are unwilling to spend more than your self-imposed limit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spend max, max money year in and year out. All 32 can only spend the same amount of money over a five-year stretch,\u201d Stephen Jones said (via 105.3 The Fan<\/a> in Dallas). \u201cWhen we\u2019re all said and done, we max out our salary cap every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of which means the Cowboys are primarily focused on the actual cash they spend every year, not some annual contract averages.<\/p>\n

Cash-Over-Cap teams operate differently. Cash-Over-Cap is the idea that your cash spend frequently or consistently exceeds your salary cap. You\u2019re essentially borrowing from future years to increase your cash spend in the current year, allowing you to consistently spend more on your team than Cash-To-Cap teams, hoping that a higher spend will lead to better results. And this works as long as the salary cap keeps increasing, which it has over the last decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cBusting the budget\u201d would require the Cowboys to act like a Cash-Over-Cap team, something they\u2019ve abhorred in the past, and would likely require them to exceed the salary cap with their cash spend.<\/p>\n

And now back to Jerry\u2019s 70% comment.<\/p>\n

In Year 1 cash, Prescott ended up costing the Cowboys $86.3 million, Lamb cost $39.2 million, and Parsons signed in Green Bay for $45.2 million in Year 1 cash. Combined, that\u2019s $170.7 million and would have been 67% of the 2024 cap, which is very close to the 70% Jones mentioned.<\/p>\n

Jerry wasn\u2019t lying. He was just talking about a different budget than everybody assumed.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll notice that the tables above also contain the Year 1 cash spend, which I conveniently glossed over in my initial comments. At $91.1 million this year versus $73.9 million, the Cowboys are already spending 23% more than they did last year. And that percentage could climb to ~27-30% once we add the numbers for Howell, Hennessy, and Fant. And they will climb even higher if the Cowboys find a linebacker and perhaps another OLB on the free agency market, or execute another trade or two.<\/p>\n

And if they find a way to sign George Pickens and Brandon Aubrey to long-term contracts this year, that Year 1 cash number will balloon even further this year.<\/p>\n

Is that \u201cbusting the budget\u201d? In the Cowboys\u2019 minds, it certainly is. For many non-accountants discussing NFL accounting numbers, it probably isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

In the end, both can be true:<\/p>\n

The Cowboys are not (yet) spending as much in free agency as many expected.Free agency made the Cowboys much better this year, especially on defense, than it did last year.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s already something.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Speaking at the NFL combine this year, Jerry Jones hinted at what some thought would be a free…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":812203,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,5355,35269,2461,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-812202","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-cowboys","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-cowboys","11":"tag-dallas-cowboys-free-agency","12":"tag-dallas-cowboys-salary-cap","13":"tag-dallascowboys","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116228665147197126","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}