Cowboys restructure contracts for Prescott, Lamb; open $67 million in cap space
On Wednesday, the Dallas Cowboys announced the restructures of three players’ contracts, moves that have opened up $67 million in salary cap space just days before the opening of free agency.
Prior to the moves being made official, the Cowboys were over $56 million above the 2026 salary cap of $301.2 million per team. The moves put the Cowboys below the threshold, but more work awaits to allow the team to be active in free agency next week. The legal tampering period for impending free agents begins next Monday while free agency officially begins with the opening of the new league year next Wednesday.
Here is how each player’s contract was maneuvered on Wednesday:
- QB Dak Prescott: $30,960,000 in savings
- WR CeeDee Lamb: $19,028,000 in savings
- OL Tyler Smith: $17,605,840 in savings
- Total savings: $67,593,840
Restructures allow teams to take hefty cap numbers (like Prescott’s $74 million cap hit in 2026) and spread it throughout the rest of a contract and even into a few years after a contract expires. The player is given the money up front as a “signing bonus,” and it allows more salary cap freedom in the current season while sacrificing cap space in future years. Prescott‘s cap hit will decrease to roughly $43.1 million as a result, for example.
To create even more room, the Cowboys will maneuver the contacts of defensive tackles Quinnen Williams, Osa Odighizuwa and Kenny Clark. Restructures for Williams ($14,587,500 in savings) and Odighizuwa ($12,028,000 in savings) are expected while an extension for Clark is another likely move.
Speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine last Friday, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones implied that the team is prepared to spend more in free agency this offseason than it has in the past.
“I could see us being aggressive in free agency,” Jones said. “By the very virtue of having two [first-round picks], we’re going to spend more money in the draft than normally you would spend … I would bet that we will spend more money in free agency than we have.”
Spending more than they have isn’t necessarily a huge promise. Over the last five offseasons, the Cowboys rank last in the NFL in money spent on external free agents — spending $19.6 million less than any other franchise over that time period. However, the money opened up by restructuring a handful of contracts not only allows the freedom to go spend, but it also cashes in another promise that Jones made in Indianapolis.
“Expect me to borrow some of my future,” he said, referring to pushing money down the line on certain contracts as the team did on Wednesday.
