It's certainly no secret that the Dallas Cowboys were going to have some issues as it pertains to the salary cap coming into this offseason, as they were roughly $30 million over the projected figure for the 2026 campaign.
And while they did recently save themselves $6.5 million by waiving linebacker Logan Wilson, who they acquired from the Cincinnati Bengals last November at the trade deadline, they also recently re-signed running back Javonte Williams to a new three-year deal and also slapped the franchise tag on Pro Bowl wideout George Pickens.
Add all that up and America's Team is currently $56,613,104 over the official $301.2 million cap figure that the NFL announced late last week, according to Over The Cap. Tack on the money Jerry Jones & Co. are expected to need for next month's draft picks, and that number rises to $64,162,322.
The Cowboys will obviously be restructuring some of their bigger contracts to create more space, with Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Tyler Smith naturally being the prime candidates, but more cuts are likely coming as well.
In that regard, Terence Steele's name has been thrown around as a prime candidate for quite some time, as the veteran right tackle is coming off yet another average season and is set to count a combined $57.875 million against the cap over the next three years.
However, what was once thought to be a foregone conclusion doesn't seem so certain any longer.
The Dallas Cowboys may be content to keep Terence Steele
If the Cowboys were to part ways with Steele right now, they would take a significant dead cap hit of $9.375 million but would also save $8.75 million against the 2026 cap. And, as mentioned, he has two additional years remaining on his contract, which Dallas obviously wouldn't have to worry about.
However, it seems the Cowboys may just be content to keep the 28-year-old.
EVP & CEO Stephen Jones recently stated that everyone within the organization is on the same page as far as addressing the team's defensive needs this offseason, and that he doesn't see much movement on the offensive side of things.
And just a few days later, Cowboys insider Todd Archer reported that Jones discussed reworking the deals of Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams to create more space, saying the contracts of Osa Odighizuwa, DaRon Bland, and Jake Ferguson could be reworked as well, and that cutting Steele didn't seem to be an option.
Furthermore, offensive coordinator Klayton Adams recently had this to say about Steele:
"I just think that there's a ton of good things that he's doing. The margins are smaller as you get later in your career for the type of improvement that you specifically want to be able to make, but we've got an improvement plan ready for him for probably seven or eight different things that maybe he hasn't worked on in his career. And so I can certainly see some of the benefits of the way that the guy works. He's an absolute pro, and we're gonna continue to find ways to help him get better."
Now, does any of that sound like a team ready to make a move? No, it does not. Nothing is set in stone, of course, and if any organization is going to say one thing and then do the complete opposite, it's the Cowboys.
So, we now simply wait to see what happens with Steele over the next week or so before the new league year begins on March 11.