As the first day of NFL free agency looms less than a week away, the Dallas Cowboys have made a pair of accounting moves to clear a substantial amount of cap space. Restructures of Dak Prescott and Zack Martin's contracts allowed the Cowboys to free up “about $30 [million]” in salary cap, Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News reported in a tweet on Friday morning.
Speculation of a contract restructure for Prescott began early this offseason as the quarterback's $49 million cap hit was set to be the third highest in football.
ESPN's Todd Archer also reported on Friday that Dallas shaved that number down by turning $29 million of Prescott's 2023 salary into a signing bonus.
This contract restructuring was likely a part of the overall plan for Prescott's contract whenever he signed it back in 2021.
There is still a chance for Dallas to reduce Prescott's cap hit even more by signing him to an extension and spreading out his pay over more years later this offseason.
Martin was the second Cowboys superstar to have his compensation adjusted to make room for other players. The Cowboys turned $12 million of Martin's 2023 salary into a signing bonus as well, Archer reported.
News of Dallas' first two restructures broke days after it was reported that the Cowboys are also in talks with left tackle Tyron Smith about his future with the team.
If those talks go well for Dallas, another contract adjustment of Smith's $13.6 million dollar salary and $17.6 million dollar cap hit could be coming in short order.
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