Dak Prescott could do Cowboys a major salary cap favor

One way the Dallas Cowboys can get under the cap is for Dak Prescott to agree to a restructure.

Saddled with one of the worst cap situations in the league, the Dallas Cowboys are hoping franchise quarterback Dak Prescott will agree to a restructure.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports “the Cowboys are in the process of trying to restructure the four-year, $160 million contract signed last year by quarterback Dak Prescott.” He believes the easiest way to free up cap space would be to take a bulk of his $20 million guaranteed salary for 2022 and turn it into a signing bonus. Doing so would kick precious cap dollars into future years.

Dallas is over $21 million in the hole with regards to the 2022 salary cap and are poised to lose some key veteran players if they cannot get this thing under control immediately.

Dallas Cowboys: A contract restructure by Dak Prescott would be a saving grace

Prescott currently accounts for 16.24 percent of the Cowboys’ cap space. He is a $34.45 million cap hit for 2022 and a $77.8 million dead cap hit. While kicking the can down the road will lead to future dead cap money for the Cowboys to have to navigate in the coming years, keep this in mind. A dollar tomorrow is worth less than a dollar today. The cap will go up and it will not be felt as bad.

While most of the Cowboys’ cap issues have everything to do with paying running back Ezekiel Elliott two years early and spending a premium on an unproductive pass rusher in DeMarcus Lawrence, it is a rite of passage for marquee quarterbacks to agree to restructures. Though they deserve to be paid the most, they also have to respect where they sit atop their teams’ payrolls.

Ultimately, the Cowboys cannot screw around in the first wave of NFL free agency. While they do not have to spend out the wazoo on overpriced commodities, this is a team that has a real shot of getting to the Super Bowl. Anything short of a conference title game appearance would be a massive disappointment for America’s Team. Winning will only help Prescott make more money.

The Cowboys must play salary cap gymnastics, but this is what it will take for them this spring.