FRISCO, Texas – On Tuesday afternoon, the Dallas Cowboys made several moves. As expected, the Cowboys restructured the contracts of both quarterback Dak Prescott and right guard Zack Martin to create cap space before the start of free agency.
Prescott’s restructure created approximately $15 million, and Martin’s created roughly $7 million in cap room. They combined to create more than $22 million in cap space for the upcoming season. Teams around the league must be under the mandated $208.2 million salary cap limit by March 16 – the start of the new league year.
After placing the lofty $10.9 million franchise tag on Dalton Schultz, the Cowboys must create additional space to get under the cap limit by the start of the new league year next week. More cap-compliant decisions will be made over the next week, whether that results in restructures, player releases, or pay cuts.
Many questions still linger around the wide receiver position in Dallas, most notably the speculation surrounding Amari Cooper’s future. For now, Noah Brown is locked up for the 2022 season. He was set to hit free agency next week, but the club signed Brown to a one-year extension. Specific terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
The Cowboys selected Brown in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Ohio State and he has primarily served as a rotational backup option and core special teams’ player. In 2021, he compiled a career-high 16 catches for 184 yards in 13 games. Brown adds a boost to the depth chart, although Dallas still has many tough decisions ahead in the receiver group. Michael Gallup and Cedrick Wilson are unrestricted free agents and Cooper’s $20 million base salary in 2022 becomes guaranteed on March 20 – if he is still on the team’s roster.
