Notable headlines surrounding America’s team.
$255M salary cap gives Cowboys new flexibility in Prescott negotiations – K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire
This is a good offseason for the Cowboys to gain deeper pockets.
It’s now easier for the Dallas Cowboys to walk away from Dak Prescott. On Friday, the NFL released the figures for the 2024 salary cap, $255.4 million, steamrolling past previous projections. Originally the number was rumored to be between $240 million and $245 million. The actual number comes in $13 million above the median of that range and Stephen Jones has to be ecstatic.
Why? Because it keeps them from being strong armed in the Dak Prescott contract negotiations. Don’t get it twisted, Prescott still has like 80% of all of the leverage here, but blowing things up just became a little bit more palatable for the Jones family. Even if they do end up signing Prescott long-term, the extra room means they don’t have to resolve Prescott’s situation before addressing other needs. If nothing else, the additional cap space buys the Cowboys time.
Prescott currently sits with a $59.5 million cap hit that can be easily reduced in many ways. The most likely way is that the team works out an extension that makes him the highest paid player in league history, but reduces the 2024 impact on the cap. But now, with this extra $13 million in space they can play a little more hardball because it’s not as catastrophic to their offseason to not get space from Prescott’s deal.
5 moves the Cowboys can make to free up $70 million in cap space – Jerry Trotta, The Landry Hat
Speaking of some extra cap space.
2. Extend CeeDee Lamb ($13.49 million)
Extending CeeDee Lamb might be the easiest decision the Cowboys make this offseason. Lamb announced himself as a top-five receiver in 2023. He finished third in Offensive Player of the Year voting and one could argue he should have finished ahead of Tyreek Hill for second place.
Lamb ranked first in targets and catches, as well as second in receiving yards and touchdown catches. In terms of advanced stats, no receiver had more yards after the catch than Lamb and he ranked third in passer rating when targeted and fourth in yards per route run, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Having an elite WR is paramount to winning deep into January for teams that don’t have Patrick Mahomes as their QB. Lamb was the lifeblood of the Cowboys offense this past season. He and Dak Prescott are arguably the best QB-WR duo in the league.
Extending No. 88 is a no-brainer. The immediate cap savings are just an added bonus and allow Jerry Jones to fulfill his “all-in” promise.
Mike Zimmer’s approach is better than Dan Quinn’s – Shane Taylor, Inside The Star
The Cowboys’ defense might need a coach over a friend right now.
It may sound funny, but Mike Zimmer is a coach first.
A difference between him and Dan Quinn is that Quinn was known to want to be your friend first.
He was a good coach in his own right but cared more about being your buddy than your coach. That will change with Zimmer.
Around 10 days ago, Mike Zimmer talked about that exact thing.
“The ones that wanna be great, they wanna be coached,” Zimmer said.
“The ones that wanna be great, they wanna be coached.”
— Mike Zimmer on his approach to coaching players
FYI: He’s coached a list of legendary and notable #Cowboys players, so there’s no grain of salt to take with that.
— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) February 14, 2024
I loved when Dallas brought Dan Quinn back last year, I think it was a move that would benefit them, yet like the offense, struggled against above-average football teams.
How Would New NFL Kickoff Rule Hurt Cowboys’ Brandon Aubrey? – Richie Whitt, Sports Illustrated
The field goal streak was Aubrey’s most impressive accomplishment in 2023. But an underrated aspect of his game is now under threat.
The committee has met recently – ahead of next month’s NFL owners meetings in Orlando – to discuss tweaking kickoff rules. Kickoffs at times were merely wastes of time during the 2023 season, with only 22 percent returned. In Super Bowl LVII there were 13 kickoffs, all booted into or out of the end zone for touchbacks.
It’s a tricky tightrope for owners, who desperately want to keep kickers involved in the game of “foot”ball. But the rate of concussion on returns are double any other play in the sport.
NFL.com reported Sunday that the committee is, um, kicking around the idea of adapting the XFL model, which lines up coverage and return teams five yards apart but well downfield from the kicker. The XFL rules allow for returns, but not the full-field, full-sprint collisions that prompt many collisions and injuries.
The Cowboys benefitted from Aubrey’s leg strength, as the rookie consistently booted unreturnable kickoffs that forced opponents to start at the 25-yard line. Aubrey led the NFL in both number of touchbacks (99) and highest percentage of touchbacks (91 percent). The Pro Bowl performer had an astounding 19 more touchbacks than the next closest kicker, Baltimore Ravens’ veteran Justin Tucker.
Aubrey, of course, wasn’t just about quantity, but also quality. He led the league is made field goals with 36, missing only two along with making 49 of 52 extra points.
OL help? A new RB? Here are key players Cowboys’ offseason shopping list should include – Kevin Sherrington, DMN
Form your Cowboys’ offseason Christmas lists… and then temper your expectations
Better yet, move Tyler Smith, the ‘22 first-rounder, to left tackle. If Tyler really is the Cowboys’ best lineman these days, shouldn’t he be playing the most important position in the line if he can? Besides, guards are easier to find than tackles. Cheaper, too.
Except there’s a caveat, and a 315-pound one, at that. Tyler Biadasz, a three-year starter at center, is also a free agent. Insiders speculate the Cowboys might let him follow in the footsteps of the Connor twins, McGovern and Williams. If Biadasz walks along with Tyron and the Cowboys move Tyler a couple steps to his left, three-fifths of the line would be new or starting at a different position this fall. Hardly suggests continuity, the prerequisite for good offensive line play.
My suggestion: Re-sign Tyron to a one-year deal, leave Tyler at left guard for now, let T.J. Bass take over at center and kick the can of remaking the offensive line another year down the road.
Part of the rationale is because I have bigger plans elsewhere. And by bigger I mean, like, massive.
If you haven’t seen T’Vondre Sweat’s one-on-one sessions at the Senior Bowl, do yourself a favor. One sap who got in the way of the 6-4, 360-pounder from Texas finished like a folding chair. Talk about an impossible assignment. Like trying to block an avalanche.
Cowboys and Dak Prescott reportedly have not had ‘substantial’ talks about contract – RJ Ochoa, BTB
Jerry is going to slow-roll this extension, huh?
This past week there was speculation that Prescott could command around $60M per year if/when an extension does happen. Given the quarterback market and the way it has worked in recent history, this lines up with expectations and predictions.
We have noted many times that if an extension does happen that it will very likely come before the beginning of free agency on March 13th so that the team can use whatever salary cap space that they create as a result of it. We still have a few weeks to go on that front, but time is starting to become of the essence.
On Saturday morning there was a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that there have not been any ‘substantial’ talks between the player and the club yet. As transcribed by Bleacher Report:
Appearing on Saturday’s SportsCenter, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported the Cowboys and representatives for Prescott haven’t had “any substantial talks” about a long-term contract.
“I was told that Dallas and Dak Prescott’s reps have not had any substantial talks,” Fowler said. “They have not discussed numbers, they could certainly meet at the NFL combine next week though to at least get started to see where each side is at.”
The NFL Combine does traditionally bring an opportunity for teams and player representatives to come together and hash things out so this all makes sense. Again, March 13th is soon, but it is hardly tomorrow.
Ed. Note: Last week we noted the sad passing of Mark Lane, a contributor here at BTB and at many Cowboys media sites over the years. We wanted to let everyone know you can donate to a scholarship fund in Mark Lane’s honor here.
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