Cowboys in Cap Hell?! How's Dallas Get Under New $224.8 Million Number?
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FRISCO - As football fans prepare for Super Bowl LVII between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 12, the Dallas Cowboys and 29 other teams are preparing for the offseason.
For Dallas, it will be an offseason to evaluate players, even as coach Mike McCarthy's own review of his coaching staff continues after the split with former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and others.
And now, the Cowboys have a clearer idea of how that offseason might work financially. ... with an almost-certain gloomy prediction from naysayers.
The league has informed teams the salary cap will increase by more than $16 million over 2022's number to up to $224.8 million for 2023.
Our numbers say that puts the Cowboys at between $7 million and $9 million over the cap ...
Oh, no! It's "Dallas Cowboys Cap Hell!''
But not really.
A jump-out number is also an example of how there's no "hell'' here, as quarterback Dak Prescott is attached to the biggest Dallas hit at $49.13 million for 2023.
But there are easy "flips of the switch'' in some contracts to cut down the big numbers. Some of those "switches'' are build into existing deals. In Dak's case, Dallas can easily cut his cap number in half ... and suddenly Dallas will be about $24 million under the cap.
And there are an assortment of other big-money Cowboys in the same boat, making "Salary Cap Hell'' largely a myth. The fact is, it's not "hell.'' It's simply a "budget.'' And if a team wins the Super Bowl, it's not very concerned about the pain of either description.
However, being "under the cap'' doesn't fill up the roster. Part of the reason Dallas "being under'' isn't enough is it includes the absence of linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, cornerback Anthony Brown, running back Tony Pollard, tight end Dalton Schultz and others, all seeking new contracts for 2023 ...
And all prepared to eat up some of the room that Dallas does not presently even have.
In the end, while $224.8 million is the hard cap number, there are tools in the toolbox available for the Cowboys to be compliant, as they must. So the trick isn't, "Can you field a team with $224.8 million in cap room?''
The trick is, "Can you field a Super Bowl-contending roster with $224.8 million in cap room?''
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