The Dallas Cowboys have done some financial reworking as of late. A few weeks ago, they restructured Tyron Smith's deal by converting $8.9 million of his base salary into a signing bonus, adding an additional $7.1 million in cap space with the voided year added. Now, as the season is set to begin on Sunday, the Cowboys are creating more financial flexibility.
Zack Martin, who signed a six-year, $84 million dollar extension in 2018, is having his deal restructured to create $8 million in cap space according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
More early season accounting: The #Cowboys restructured G Zack Martin's contract to free up $8M in cap space, source said, and push money into the future.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 9, 2020
The Cowboys are converting $10 million of Martin's $11 million dollar base salary for 2020 into a signing bonus. With this move, the Cowboys currently have $17.5 million in cap space entering the new season.
Many will assume that this restructure is geared towards signing All-Pro free agent Safety Earl Thomas. However, that's not the Cowboys thinking here. While they're still interested in Thomas to some degree, this move is more about having cap space in 2021, and more importantly, finally securing a long-term deal with Quarterback Dak Prescott.
The salary cap floor for 2021 is set to be around $175 million because of the potential revenue losses due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Prescott will play under the franchise tag for $31.4 million this season which will go up to $37.7 next season if he's tagged again.
This was definitely some strategic financial maneuvering by the Cowboys here.
