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FRISCO, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys have gotten under the $301.2 million salary cap on Wednesday by restructuring the contracts of quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and left guard Tyler Smith, according to sources.
The Cowboys were nearly $55 million over the cap before the moves, but the restructuring cleared around $66 million in space.
While the Cowboys are under the cap, they will need more room to be as aggressive as owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the team will be when free agency begins. The Cowboys have wide receiver George Pickens on the cap at $27.3 million but a long-term deal would give them more room to spend.
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Jones said from the NFL scouting combine the team will rework the deals of defensive tackles Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa, who are scheduled to count $63 million against the cap, to add more cap room.
"I want you to know that the only way to push more [out] is for me to go borrow some of my future, OK?" Jones said last week from the NFL scouting combine. "Expect me to go borrow some of my future."
The Cowboys have not been major players in free agency in more than a decade, choosing to fill holes with cost-effective moves. Jones coined the phrase, "bust the budget," when the offseason began and said from Indianapolis he would be willing to do so to help fix a defense that finished last in yards and 30th in points per game.
"I would bet that we will spend more money in free agency than we have," Jones said.
The Cowboys have needs at every spot but defensive tackle. They have two first-round picks but do not have selections in the second and third rounds because of trades they made last year for Williams and Pickens.
The Cowboys can look to free agency for help at linebacker, cornerback, safety and pass rusher to help new coordinator Christian Parker put together a unit that can better complement the high-ranked offense.
Dallas has it written into the contracts of the players to restructure the deals by lowering their base salaries and turning the difference into signing bonus. It is more of an accounting move since the players receive the same pay during the season and not a signing bonus check.
Prescott's base salary goes from $40 million to $1.8 million, while Lamb's and Smith's drop to the $1.7 million range. The differences were turned into "signing bonus," for cap purposes that free up space.
While the moves create cap room this year, it adds to the players' salary-cap numbers in the future. For example, Prescott's 2027 cap number now will be more than $76 million.
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