5 Dallas Cowboys who deserve a contract extension

Randy Gregory, DE

So Randy Gregory owes the Dallas Cowboys more than the Cowboys owe him but I doubt that will sway his camp from taking a steep discount if he can get through a full season uninterrupted. His $2 million base salary is far below market value for obvious reasons.

If Gregory does have a breakout season, the price the Cowboys would have to pay, even if discounted, would be far more than they would likely be willing to pay. The obvious play the Cowboys currently have is to offer a fair deal.

The Dallas Cowboys want to upgrade their defense and extending their own players still qualifies as helping the defense. This extension wouldn’t help the Cowboy’s salary cap but Gregory is likely to be the team’s starting defensive end.

There is an outside chance the Dallas Cowboys find another starting defensive end like they have the past two seasons but that band-aid philosophy backfired last season. If the team can find a defensive end worth paying big money to I’m all in but most NFL teams are going to try and find cheaper alternatives.

The team has helped drive down Gregory’s value by bringing in veterans to take the majority of the snaps but that was because Gregory couldn’t stay on the field. Getting Gregory on the field for an entire year could propel him into the $10 million conversation.

The Dallas Cowboys won’t break the bank when it comes to salary cap relief by extending these five players but every dollar counts. The Cowboys are going to have to figure out a  different way to gain salary-cap space.