Coming into this extremely important offseason after missing the NFL Playoffs for the second straight year, the Dallas Cowboys weren't facing the most ideal salary-cap situation, as they were roughly $30 million over the projected figure for the 2026 season.
We know now that the official figure will be a record $301.2 million, which the league announced late last week, up $22 million from this past year.
It was a forgone conclusion that Dallas would restructure several of its high-priced contracts to create additional space, with quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, and left tackle Tyler Smith being the prime candidates. And on Wednesday, those moves were officially made, thus getting the Cowboys on the right side of the cap line.
Sources say the CeeDee Lamb's contract has been restructured as well. Cowboys now under the cap. https://t.co/Ry33HsxKzt
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) March 4, 2026
The Dallas Cowboys have restructured Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Tyler Smith
Prior to the restructures, Prescott had a 2026 cap hit of $74,068,430, with Lamb at $38,423,529, and Smith at $27,502,300.
On February 20, the Cowboys helped themselves out by releasing linebacker Logan Wilson, thus saving $6.5 million against the cap. It doesn't save the disdain from fans for yet another disappointing trade, but that's not what we're here to discuss.
One day later, they went back in the other direction, re-signing running back Javonte Williams to a new three-year, $24 million contract, although the deal was backloaded so that his cap hit for the 2026 season is only $3,891,176.
And, of course, on February 27, Dallas placed the franchise tag on George Pickens, which, if the two sides can't reach a long-term agreement over the next few months, will cost the team $27,298,000. As such, once all these moves were completed, the Cowboys ended up more than $56 million over.
But now, in moving roughly $65.6 million into future seasons, which could conceivably create some issues down the line, Over The Cap now has Dak at $43,108,430, with Lamb at $20,023,529, and Smith at $11,202,300.
As a result, Dallas now has $9,046,896 in available cap space. But it should be noted that it does not include the money the Cowboys will need for their 2026 draft picks. Taking that into account, the figure drops to $1,497,678.
So, expect Jerry Jones to make more restructures over the next few days, with Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark, and Osa Odighizuwa being the most likely candidates.