Are the Dallas Cowboys laying the foundation to trade for Maxx Crosby? That's what everyone is thinking after they cleared $19 million in cap space by restructuring the contracts of Kenny Clark, DaRon Bland, and Jake Ferguson.
The Cowboys now have $33 million in cap room, which is enough to afford Crosby's $30 million salary for the 2026 season.
According to Over The Cap (h/t Jane Slater, NFL Network), the acquiring team in a Crosby trade needs $29.857 million in cap space upfront to execute the deal, not just the $7.822 million he'd cost after presumably restructuring his contract.
Dallas has the means to make it happen, and they'd better do something big given the risk they are taking with Bland and Ferguson.
Neither had guaranteed money left on their contracts after this season, but restructuring them pretty much guarantees their spot on the team in 2027 and potentially beyond.
Let's get into it.
The Cowboys rolled the dice by restructuring DaRon Bland and Jake Ferguson
Bland and Ferguson are Cowboys mainstays at this point. Both were selected as Day 3 picks in 2022 and have started 42 and 48 games, respectively, over four seasons. Both signed lofty contract extensions last offseason, and both are in need of bounce-back campaigns after underwhelming last year.
Before you counter with Ferguson's 2025 stat line, we watched the games. He caught a lot of passes, but offered next to nothing after the catch and struggled to protect the football. The addition of George Pickens should have created more explosive play opportunities for Ferguson. It didn't eat into his target share, either, and yet he produced a career-low 7.3 yards per catch.
Not what the Cowboys had in mind when they gave him $12.5 million per year (seventh-highest among TEs) and $30 million guaranteed (fifth-highest).
Ferguson should have been playing for his future this season. Restructuring his contract increased his 2027 dead cap hit, making it highly unlikely that Dallas will move on.
The same goes for Bland, who underwent a second surgery on his left foot in January. Foot injuries have limited him to 19 games over the last two seasons, making his record-setting 2023 campaign a distant memory.
Bland clearly played injured in 2025, but still, you expect better than a 109.0 passer rating allowed when targeted from a CB who's making $22.5 million a year.
ESPN's Todd Archer, who broke the restructure flurry, had this to say in his article:
"Bland's $12 million base salary and Ferguson's $7.25 million base salary were turned into signing bonuses as well. Both players signed multiyear extensions last year. Bland's cap number will increase by $2.15 million for the remainder of his deal, while Ferguson's will increase by $1.2 million."
The Cowboys no longer have an easy out in DaRon Bland and Jake Ferguson's contracts
Does that sound like players who are going anywhere? We would have thrown a party if you had told us that two years ago, but their respective career arcs have made that a lot less comforting than it once would've been.
Essentially, Ferguson and Bland had money pushed back. They are two guys the Cowboys could've parted ways with -- albeit not easily, given how they've represented the franchise -- to clear up money for George Pickens. Instead of cutting them and recouping some valuable cap room, Dallas is now stuck with their dead money for at least two more years.
That doesn't have to be a bad thing. Both Ferguson and Bland have skins on the wall in this league, and no one would be shocked if they played at a high level this season.
However, if they don't ... let's just say this front office better use that newfound flexibility to land Maxx Crosby or another difference-maker on defense.
We like to think most Cowboys fans would trade two more years of Bland and Ferguson for Maxx Crosby. Sign us up, too. But if that's the cost of landing Crosby, Dallas could be left with two potentially ugly contracts on the books.
It's a dangerous bet, even if it's a necessary one.
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