(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)
The restructuring of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb's contracts opened up a lot of salary cap space. Any Micah Parson deal would free up even more space. What good is all this cap space if they're not bringing in top-tier talent? Seems as though kicking dead money down the road will be a bigger headache. Why restructure these contracts if they weren't going to spend the money?– Jamal Wynn /New Castle, DE**
Tommy: Well, they are going to spend the money, they just haven't yet. I think that salary cap room was made available so that the Cowboys can do what they've done for years: Take care of their own. Think about the players that have extensions coming up in the near future: Micah Parsons, Tyler Smith, DaRonBland.
They needed the space to be able to fit those contracts in, and those restructures help them be able to afford that. Plus, you add in the Osa Odighizuwa deal as well as the other additions they've made in free agency, and they're able to have the flexibility to spend how they're wanting to spent, although it may not be the big money splashes that some may be hoping for.
Patrik: I'm sure they have their reasons, though I'm of the mindset that you should spend what you free up, especially given the closing window on trying to win a Super Bowl with this current quarterback at the helm. There's something to be said for having space for later, fair enough, but less would be needed for later if deals are more often done proactively — e.g., Trevon Diggs and hopefully Micah Parsons — also accounting for the fact the salary cap will, barring another pandemic, continue to increase exponentially to help in finessing it down the road, as contenders around the league often do every single offseason. I've always been of the mindset that the Cowboys should strike a balance between how well they draft and develop and adding impact talent during free agency when and where it makes the most sense.
Seeing as it's a statistical impossibility for every single draft pick to hit every single time, they should consider opening up the wallet more in March to add proven talent that may have been drafted and developed somewhere else to supplement their own misses in the draft — whenever they might occur. If you're gonna kick a can, kick it at a Lombardi trophy.
Mailbag
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