Not long ago, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys Jerry Jones said the team would be “all in” this offseason regarding contracts and signing players, adding, “we’re going to get through this.” A few months removed and that statement doesn’t appear to be an accurate representation of their offseason, with no big splashes when it comes to free agency and players awaiting major contracts who have yet to reach deals.
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones explained the team’s approach to its moves and noted that recruiting players takes time.
“We spend as much money as we can year after year. All 32 can only spend the same amount of money over a five-year period,” he said (via 105.3 The Fan in Dallas). “At the end of the day, we put our salary cap in every year. We will have done that and what comes with having a good team, which we do, we also look at bringing in our own guys. That’s not the case. That’s not to say it happens overnight, but when you want to draft players like Dak. [Prescott] and Micah [Parsons] and CeeDee [Lamb]then you definitely need to hold on to your money if you want to have a realistic chance of recruiting these guys. »
The Cowboys currently have $7.4 million in salary cap space remaining, according to the NFL Players Association website. Prescott represents $55.4 million against the cap, while Lamb’s fifth-year option is worth $17.99 million against the cap. If the team is able to secure extensions, these salary cap numbers would decrease for the upcoming season.
According to ESPN, the team hasn’t made much progress in completing extensions with Prescott, Lamb or Parsons. Prescott is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2024 season and the team can use a franchise tag on Lamb, if the sides do not reach an agreement in time. Parson’s fifth-year option in 2025 will be worth more than $21 million.
Dallas has said it wants to keep its three stars, but it remains to be seen if that will happen.
