INDIANAPOLIS — Money talks, and the memo provided by the NFL to the Dallas Cowboys and the other 31 teams is hitting a high note that would rival one from Mariah Carey. Each club was informed of the salary cap number ahead of 2025 free agency — landing at a hefty, record-setting $279.2 million.
That is a substantial jump over last year's figure of $255.4 million, and it opens the door for the Cowboys to potentially be “aggressive” in free agency in the first year of the Brian Schottenheimer era, even if it is “selective” in nature.
One of those selections involves impact defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, with things trending toward a deal being done on that front.
"Osa has done a terrific job for us," Schottenheimer said. "He's a terrific young player. He does everything right."
Speaking from this year's NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Schottenheimer gave insight into his involvement in the incoming process of assessing free agents — both in-house and outside of the building — to try and upgrade a roster that has several needs entering the month of March.
'I think one of the positives of me coming on board was knowing the people, so the communication from the very beginning was very seamless," Schottenheimer said. "Not that we always agree on everything, but there's definitely alignment and, more importantly, we're able to have real conversations — hard conversations, sometimes — and I think that helps you cut through some of the red tape, if you will.
"There's a lot of discussions that go on this week, which is interesting but, yeah, I love the process. I love the meetings with Stephen and Jerry [Jones], and Will [McClay]; and just having sat through the interviews for the past couple of days, I think [the front office does] a great job of setting the table for us."
Legal tampering begins on Monday, March 10 with agreed to deals able to be finalized/executed on Wednesday, March 12 at 3 p.m. CT, and one of the first orders of business will be to try and get a deal done with Odighizuwa, also with an eye on trying to retain Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence while, soon, also negotiating with cornerback Jourdan Lewis.
All three are critical to what Schottenheimer and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus hope to accomplish on that side of the ball in the season to come, and that means trying to lock them in before doing the outside shopping.
"You always want to look at your own roster first," said Schottenheimer. "Who can we bring back? Who are the guys that we feel like are cornerstones to what we're trying to get done? I believe in this. I think that there's talent acquisition which is adding players — whether they're internal, external, whatever that is — but there's also talent development, and I think that's where we're focused right now as a staff."
As it stands, the Cowboys have roughly $4 million in available cap space after seeing the league set the new cap ceiling at $279.2 million, but they have several means of mushrooming that figure ahead of and during free agency — e.g., restructuring the contracts of Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs.
The looming retirement of future first-ballot Hall of Fame lineman Zack Martin will also likely require a decision to release his contract for additional savings, particularly if the released contract is deemed a post-June 1 designation.
There couldn't be any movement by the Cowboys or any other team until the salary cap figure was cemented and, now that it has been, all manner of business can be officially conducted.
And Schottenheimer will get his first real look at the beginnings of his 2025 roster.
