Dallas Cowboys restructure deals for QB Dak Prescott, OL Zack Martin to clear $30 million in cap space
The Dallas Cowboys have opened up roughly $30 million in cap space by restructuring the contracts of Dak Prescott and Zack Martin, the team announced Friday.
Prescott and Martin are two of the most important players on the Cowboys, and the restructuring will be huge for Dallas heading into free agency.
Before the restructuring, Prescott was going to get $31 million in salary for 2023. The sum came with a cap hit of $49.13 million.
Dak Prescott, Zack Martin are key players for Dallas’ championship hopes
In 2022, Dak Prescott posted a 66.2% completion rate with 2,860 passing yards in the regular season. His interceptions number hit a career-high with 15 in 12 regular season games and two more in the postseason.
Through seven seasons, the former Mississippi State Bulldog has 24,943 passing yards in the regular season and an additional 1,559 passing yards. He also has 1,760 career rushing yards.
Prescott signed a four-year, $160 million deal with Dallas in March of 2021. Almost 80% of the money in his contract is fully guaranteed. He has already gone through two restructures to help the Cowboys out with cap space.
In 2021, Dallas converted $6.25 million of his 2021 salary into bonus, clearing $5 million in cap space. Then, in 2022, he agreed to convert $18.4 million of his salary into a signing bonus, clearing $14.4 million in the cap.
Zack Martin is one of the best offensive linemen of his generation. The 32-year-old is an eight-time Pro Bowler, six-time All-Pro player and a member of the NFL’s Team of the 2010s.
More on the 2023 NFL offseason, free agency
The NFL 2023 calendar year begins at 4 p.m. ET on March 15. At that time, contracts running through 2022 officially run out, making those players free agents.
Prior to the beginning of free agency, teams will have a chance to designate one franchise or transition tag player, starting on Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. ET and ending on March 7. Beginning March 13 through March 15 teams can enter into a legal negotiation with players who are will become unrestricted free agents.
In addition to NFL free agency, the new year also marks the beginning of all trades being made official by the league office. April 21 marks the deadline to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets. On April 26, the deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers sheets hits.
There are 722 players slated to become free agents in 2023, including 20 unrestricted free agents for Dallas.