They’re going to have to make moves in order to get out of the red, and even more to be able to upgrade their roster. With that being said, here are three contracts that are holding them back right now.
3 contracts holding the Dallas Cowboys back right now
3. DeMarcus Lawrence, Defensive End
A second-round pick in 2014, DeMarcus Lawrence has been one of the better defenders for several years now in Dallas. He had another strong campaign in 2022 with 65 tackles and six sacks, earning a trip to the Pro Bowl — his first since 2018.
As good as he is, he’s accounting for far too much money right now.
Entering the offseason, Lawrence counts for $26 million against the cap but they can’t do much at all with that other than restructure him. A release would result in $35 million in dead money and would cost another $9 million against the cap.
They could potentially restructure and save roughly $9 million but that would mean there would be a higher hit down the road and they would still have $17 million tied to Lawrence this season.
This doesn’t mean Lawrence should be gone. He’s still one of the best defensive ends in the entire NFL but his contract could end up holding them back this season from going after any free agents.
2. Ezekiel Elliott, Running Back
By now, it’s been covered ad nauseam. We all know Ezekiel Elliott should have never been given the insane contract Dallas gave him.
Despite having two years left on his rookie deal, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys front office caved in on a hold-out from Elliott. Rather than holding firm and proving the team is bigger than any individual, they gave a running back a six-year extension worth $90 million.
Of course, everyone who follows the NFL knows running backs are lucky to have six productive campaigns but in Dallas, they decided to add that many years to a player who had already been in the NFL for three years — and it really wound up being an eight-year deal thanks to the two remainings.
Now heading into the 2023 offseason, Elliott is scheduled to have a cap number of $16.72 million. The good news is that they can actually get out of his deal since they’ve paid out the entire $50 million in guarantees.
Because of this, he can be let go as a post-June 1 release and would count for $5.8 million in dead money while freeing up $10.9 million.
Having said that, the move still isn’t exactly a huge win. Making him a post-June 1 cut means they couldn’t spend that money until then — so it’s not as if they can go after any key free agents. That’s the definition of a contract that holds a team back.
1. Dak Prescott, Quarterback
Teams that have to pay top-tier quarterbacks know how expensive it can be to keep them. The Cowboys should have known this but they tried to get cheap with theirs and it’s still costing them in a major way.
Dallas and Dak Prescott started discussing a contract in the range of $32 million back in 2020 but they balked at this. Apparently trying to sell him on the whole “star on the helmet” being a reason to take a discount, the Cowboys had to hit Prescott with the franchise tag in 2020, giving him $31.4 million that season.
They then hit him with the tag again in 2021 but that shot the deal up to close to $40 million. That led to Prescott landing a four-year $160 million deal.
Fast forward to now, and the front office has tried blaming Prescott for their cap situation. While it’s true he has the highest number on the team, they made it worse by kicking the can down the road. They continue to do this with restructures and that’s why Prescott counts for $49 million right now.
As is the case with most of these players, a restructure is most likely coming in order to get under the cap. If not, they’re going to have a hard time getting anything done with $50 million tied to one player.