DALLAS — Let the fun begin. The offseason has kicked off in earnest for the Dallas Cowboys, who made a flurry of moves geared towards preparing themselves for the official start of the league year, which begins on March 16.
The Cowboys and COO Stephen Jones will have to work their magic to keep some of their best players, as well as re-sign some of their impending free agents, as the team looks to avoid going backward after winning the NFC East in 2021. There has been no shortage of rumors and guesswork put into what the team will do, but the dominoes are beginning to fall.
In order to alleviate the biggest problem for the Cowboys, two moves were made to help get the team under the cap. As all teams must be under the cap figure by the start of the new league year, if the Cowboys had a desire to prepare for the 2022 season, they had to figure out a way to wiggle below the threshold.
Quarterback Dak Prescott and right guard Zack Martin each restructured their contracts to open up some space under the cap.
In Prescott’s case, there was little debate that this would be a part of the equation. The team built into his contract the ability to provide some cap relief when they needed it. With Prescott and Martin firmly entrenched in Dallas’ future plans, there is no downside to juggling their terms. The two veteran stalwarts continue to prove to be team players willing to do whatever they can to help the Cowboys keep their best players.
The money that is being saved from these two contracts will be reinvested and is already making its way around. Part of that plan included using the franchise tag on tight end Dalton Schultz. The tag is being used as a placeholder for Schultz in hopes of getting a long-term deal done with the fifth-year TE.
2021 was a career season for the former Stanford standout, taking over for the oft-injured Blake Jarwin as the go-to option at the position. Schultz, selected in the fourth-round in 2018, became one of Prescott’s most trusted receiving options and had one of the best seasons by a Cowboys tight end in recent memory. The 78 catches, 808 yards, and eight touchdowns from Schultz represented a high water mark at the position for the Cowboys since future Hall of Famer Jason Witten’s 2013 campaign.
The franchise tag for the tight end position comes in at just under $11 million and the Cowboys will want to lower that with an extension. Schultz is a good player, but that’s a high cost for a third or fourth option on offense but it has become clear that Dallas is prioritizing bringing Schultz back into the fold.
In addition, it remains to be seen what Schultz’s deal means for wide receiver Amari Cooper as rumors have swirled that the Cowboys are considering releasing their second leading receiver from last season to make further room for additions elsewhere. After resisting a pay cut, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence is another veteran player who could be on the chopping block.
Dallas also announced that they are bringing back wide receiver Noah Brown on a one-year deal. The veteran receiver out of Ohio St. has been used more as a blocker on offense but is a key guy for the Cowboys in special teams. Brown had 16 catches for 184 yards in 2021, which were all career high numbers. Now in his sixth year, Brown is still just 26-years old and has become a valuable depth piece for the Cowboys and likely doesn’t cost much to retain.
The offseason has arrived and the Cowboys have begun making their moves. The biggest transaction was using the franchise tag on Schultz, which has been the rumor for a few weeks now. There’s still work to do to get under the salary cap, and the Cowboys have more decisions to make, but they’ve made the choice to keep Prescott’s security blanket with Dalton Schultz set to return.
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