Salary cap space was/is desperately needed by the Dallas Cowboys this offseason, having entered it more than $20 million over the projected $208 million ceiling for 2022. They're about to reach into the financial medicine cabinet for some some relief, though, thanks to Dak Prescott. The two-time Pro Bowl quarterback is one year removed from having signed a record-setting contract with the Cowboys, and the team constructed the deal with a possible restructure in mind for 2022.
To that end, they're preparing to pull the trigger on doing so, sources continue to affirm to CBS Sports, in a long-expected move that will add a chunky $15.17 million back into the team's pocket ahead of free agency (legal tampering for outside free agents begins on March 14 and the Cowboys have a laundry list of in-house talent they're negotiating with at the moment).
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It's the first of what might be several restructures to come in Dallas, seeing as the organization can pull the same triggers on both four-time Pro Bowl wideout Amari Cooper and All-Pro pass rusher DeMarcus Lawrence and add nearly $30 million more to its salary cap, but therein lies a rub. With the Cowboys having approached both Cooper and Lawrence to request they take a pay cut, it appears the club is opting to go to the extreme of placing the future of both in doubt as opposed to doubling down on its commitment to them while also gaining much-needed cap space in the process -- an easy fix by way of restructures.
Time will tell if Cooper will remain a weapon for Prescott going forward, with things also being sorted on tight end Dalton Schultz and wide receiver Michael Gallup, but the restructuring of Prescott's deal provides aid to try to keep the band together.
But all Prescott can do is wait to see how it all unfolds while he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery -- a minor clean-up procedure performed on his non-throwing shoulder -- as he watches free agency and takes solace in no longer being a part of the battle for a new contract, following what amounted to a three-year battle with the Cowboys to finally land his.
