After giving Dak Prescott the franchise tag, and re-signing Amari Cooper to a lucrative five year contract, the Cowboys went to two of their team leaders to open up more cap space for the 2020 season.
Per Field Yates, both Ezekiel Elliott and La’el Collins restructured their deals early on Monday, helping add some flexibility as the Cowboys navigate free agency.
The Cowboys restructured the deals of both RB Ezekiel Elliott and OT La'El Collins earlier today.
Any extra cap space adds up when your offseason to-do list includes an extension for Amari Cooper and (potentially) Dak Prescott.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 17, 2020
The details around the restructures, though, open up questions around how much was really saved. As ESPN’s Todd Archer reported, Dallas only saved about $4 million by restructuring Collins’ deal, and really didn’t gain much at all for 2020 by doing Elliott’s contract.
The Cowboys restructured the contracts of Ezekiel Elliott and La’el Collins, but gained cap room only from the Collins’ move, opening up $4 million in space by turning $5 million of his 2020 base salary into signing bonus. https://t.co/zjt9qaAX3p
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) March 17, 2020
After tagging Prescott and signing Cooper, the Cowboys were left with around $30 million in cap space for 2020. After these restructures, they likely sit around $34-$35 million.
Something tells me that Dallas is not done adding talent through free agency. After all, why would they open up an extra $4 million if they didn’t plan to use it?
Keep an eye on their own free agent defensive end Robert Quinn, as well as former Broncos cornerback Chris Harris. It was a busy day one for the Cowboys this week, but expect news to continue to pick up over the next few days.
