Cowboys Cap Room: Here's Why Ezekiel Elliott and La'el Collins Deals Were Restructured

Cowboys and Cap Room In Free Agency: Here's Why The Existing Ezekiel Elliott and La'el Collins Deals Were Restructured

FRISCO - The numbers are flying high, and so are the imaginations for what might be. On Day 1 of NFL Free Agency, the Dallas Cowboys made two big moves involving Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, then two small moves involving La’el Collins and Ezekiel Elliott ... and then speculation that it must all be tied together ... or maybe even all about an exciting acquisition around the corner.

But no, the Collins and Elliott moves have nothing to do with Dak (who is presently on the franchise tag and counts about $33 million against the cap). And no, their restructured deals have nothing to do with "needing room for Cooper'' (who has his new five-year, $100-million deal but will likely eat up far less than that $20 mil APY against the 2020 cap) because Dallas already had plenty of room.

And, not to be a dream-crusher here, but no, the moves with Zeke and La'el are, CowboysSI.com is told, largely "procedural'' and somewhat "protective.''

"Procedural'' in that the Cowboys frequently build into their contracts "switches that can be flipped'' in a way that doesn't dangerously push money into the future (a common misconception) but rather simply converts what was slated to be "base salary'' into "signing bonus.''

That's "procedural.'' It doesn't change the players' 2020 paychecks. It simply changes the bucket from which they are paid.

In the case, of the Collins restructure, there is a $4 million cap-room gain; $5 million of his 2020 "base'' is now "bonus.'' But that's just a side effect here.

In the case of the Elliott restructure, there is no cap-room change. So .. why do it?

Beyond altering "base salary'' into "signing bonus,'' a team can also change what used to be an "option bonus'' into a "signing bonus.'' The key difference: A signing bonus represents retrievable money for the team in case of a breach of contract. 

Are La'el Collins and Ezekiel Elliott going to breach their contract? One would hope not. But just in case? That's the "protective'' part.

The Cowboys activated these switches not to "gain room'' and not to "prepare to sign a Tier-1 free agent.'' They did all this (while at the same time watching the signings move their cap room down to about $30 million) for simple reasons of "procedure'' and "protection.''