FRISCO, Texas — Just like that, with the click of a Bic, the Dallas Cowboys have freed up tens of millions in dollars of financial savings that will move directly to the team's salary cap ahead of 2025 free agency, their latest move being to restructure the contract belonging to All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott.
It's a move that frees up nearly $37 million in cap savings and arrives less than 24 hours after the Cowboys restructured the deal on All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
The two restructures alone free up more than $57 million that can be used for spending — both contracts having been agreed to at the back end of last summer.
What also helps the Cowboys heading into the new league year is the multi-year deal signed by Osa Odighizuwa, considering it landed ahead of the franchise tag deadline and, as such, means the first-year hit from the veteran defensive tackle will amount to only $6 million, roughly, as opposed to a fully guaranteed tag salary of $25.1 million.
This gives the front office in Dallas a ton of flexibility they didn't previously have, also aided by the NFL's increase of the salary cap to $279.2 million — an increase of nearly $25 million over the 2024 cap number.
Should a deal land at any point this offseason for all-world pass rusher Micah Parsons, it would free up nearly $18 million in additional cap space as it would replace the current fifth-year option that is set to pay him a total of $24 million.
Presumably adding that variable to this equation and, between Prescott, Lamb and Parsons alone, the Cowboys will have freed up $75 million in cap savings, so the sooner the better when it comes to Parsons, should Dallas need those funds at the start of free agency on March 12 and, though negligible, it's key to note they'll likely get another $1.2 million by potentially designating the retired Zack Martin as a post-June 1 cut.
Legal tampering will begin on March 10, by the way.
Whether the Cowboys choose to be "selectively aggressive", outright aggressive or not at all is to-be-determined as far as outside free agency goes, but one thing is already clear:
They've freed up a hefty sum to walk up to negotiating tables with.
