Here are some ways the Cowboys could create salary cap space.
We are in the final days before the new NFL league year begins at 4 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, March 12, and the Dallas Cowboys are sitting in a relatively good spot when it comes to the salary cap. Per OverTheCap.com Dallas had roughly $3.5M of space available on the $279.2M cap before we get contract details from the massive Osa Odighizuwa contract agreed to on Tuesday and the relief from CeeDee Lamb’s contract restructure.
Of course, in the coming months there will certainly be a need to create space to sign the 2025 draft class, build out a practice squad and set aside an injured reserve pool. Now with the Lamb restructure, the Cowboys won’t be required to make moves in order to be cap compliant when the new league year begins.
The most obvious way to create cap space is to restructure QB Dak Prescott’s massive 2025 compensation, but another avenue worth exploring are cap casualties. The pickings are rather slim when it comes to members of the roster who could be moved in order to free up cap space. The front office could create a few million dollars of cap space by releasing or waiving any of a number of players, but the majority of those players are young contributors whose salary has increased under the Proven Performance Escalators of the CBA.
The team isn’t going to move on from either DaRon Bland or Jake Ferguson, both of whom made the Pro Bowl in 2023, to free up a few million dollars worth of cap space. An argument could be made for the release of fourth-year linebacker Damone Clark who started just two games during the 2024 season, but given Clark’s role as a core member of the Cowboys’ special teams units, his $3.467M cap hit is not unreasonably large.
With all that in mind, the list of players Dallas could release or waive and save $3.5M of cap space or more is very short and is comprised of just:
- Terence Steele
- Trevon Diggs
- Donovan Wilson
- Malik Hooker
- DaRon Bland
From that list, moving on from Steele at this time seems unlikely, and while Diggs is expected to miss at least a significant portion of the 2025 season, the two-time Pro Bowler is under contract for three years past this upcoming season. Bland can be crossed off the list for the reasons listed above, which leaves just Wilson and Hooker.
Safety Donovan Wilson
Potential cap savings: $5.35M or $7M with a post-June 1 designation
With the Cowboys not in a situation where they are desperate for cap space, this is a move that could be made if Dallas feels there is a must-have free agent for which the team needs the cap space. However, given how quiet Jerry Jones has been in free agency in recent years, moving on from a starting safety who logged over a thousand snaps during the 2024 season in order to free up barely enough cap space to sign their upcoming 2025 draft class might not be a great move. Thus, the move remains a possibility, though not one that is guaranteed.
Safety Malik Hooker
Potential cap savings: $3.75M or $5.75M with a post-June 1 designation
If the Cowboys don’t move on from Wilson because it doesn’t make sense to release a starting safety to save a few million dollars, then it would seem to make even less sense to move on from Hooker, who is also a starting safety, a year younger and whose release would create even less cap space. On the flip side, if Dallas does move on from Wilson, they almost assuredly will not opt to release both starting safeties.
Linebacker Damone Clark
Potential cap savings: $3.406M
Clark has been name elsewhere as the top potential cap casualty for the Cowboys, but creating $3.406M of cap space by releasing someone who finished the 2024 season in the top five of special teams snaps played while also having started 19 games at linebacker the last two seasons, and who won’t turn 25 until June, doesn’t seem like the best way to build a roster. A more likely way to create cap space with Clark’s contract would be to sign him to a small extension that converted some of his $3.406M 2025 salary to signing bonus and keeps him in Dallas as a key contributor on special teams, while also providing inexpensive depth for the defense.
Putting it all together, there aren’t any members of the roster who are all but guaranteed to be released for cap purposes, but Jerry is Jerry, so surprises could easily happen.
