Predicting Cowboys next 3 moves after franchise tagging Tony Pollard
By Jerry Trotta
1. Restructure Tyron Smith’s contract
Jerry Jones spoke to reporters at the Combine and pretty much ruled out the possibility of cutting Tyron Smith. That’s probably the right call given you can never have two many offensive tackles (and linemen in general), and it’s virtually impossible for a starting unit to get through a season without navigating an injury.
That said, Smith currently accounts for the fourth-highest cap hit on the Cowboys in 2023 at $17.605 million. Only Dak Prescott, DeMarcus Lawrence and Zack Martin have a higher cap hit. While Smith is still capable of performing at an elite level, that number is too high given his recent injury history.
Stephen Jones himself didn’t rule out reworking Smith’s contract. That’s the easiest maneuver to relieve Dallas of some cap room.
Still $7.198 million over, per Over The Cap, restructuring Smith would save $6.217 million in cap space. It’s not a ton of savings, but cutting Zeke and restructuring Smith would put the team in a good place before free agency.
