Dallas Cowboys: Tagging DeMarcus Lawrence carries a steep price

With DeMarcus Lawrence being designated with the franchise tag, the Dallas Cowboys will need to get creative with their salary cap in order to create space.

The NFL has officially announced the salary cap amount for the 2018 season which will be coming in at $177.2 million, which is up from $167 million last season. The Dallas Cowboys are projected to have roughly $17 million in cap space including carrying an additional $7.8 million unused cap room from the 2017 season.

While it is good news that defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence will be returning for the 2018 season, albeit the franchise tag, the ramifications for the salary cap need to be examined. The guaranteed salary hit for franchise tagged defensive ends under the 2018 salary cap will be approximately $17.1 million. With that number being fully guaranteed, this move alone practically wipes out all the Cowboys 2018 caps space.

While keeping Lawrence is of the utmost importance, there are other moves that need to be made this offseason such as retaining defensive tackle David Irving. Cowboys VP Stephen Jones has confirmed they will be tendering their standout defensive lineman but could not confirm if it will be a first or second round tender. A second round tender would bring a guaranteed $3 million and a first round tender roughly $4.5 million; both of which are great numbers for a player with Irving’s potential.

As you can see their two of their most important players to retain this offseason will greatly stretch out their cap space, if not exceed it. So the Cowboys front office may have to get creative in order to create some excess cap space and there are certainly moves available to make.

They will almost certainly restructure the contract of All Pro center Travis Frederick and could also restructure Pro Bowl linebacker Sean Lee‘s contract as well. When restructuring these deals they are simply converting the players salaries into signing bonus money which can be stretched over the length of the contract, essentially lowering the upcoming years cap number.

These deals are understandable when looking at younger players such as Frederick and All Pro left tackle Tyron Smith, given that players like this will finish out their contract with the Cowboys and most likely even sign extensions.

The Cowboys can also make some additional space with the release of some players such as cornerback Orlando Scandrick, defensive lineman Benson Mayowa, and tight end James Hanna. Another big move that could create cap space would be if the Cowboys can agree to a long term extension with All Pro guard Zack Martin. Even more additional space could be created by the much discussed potential release of wide receiver Dez Bryant.

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While tagging DeMarcus Lawrence is completely understandable, it carries a price. The Cowboys will have to decide which players are worth restructuring contracts for and back-loading their current deals with guaranteed money and which players they are better off moving on from.