Earlier this week, the Dallas Cowboys inked a blockbuster 3-year, $101M extension with star Defensive Tackle, Quinnen Williams. It was a big spending move for the organization, but it actually created cap space that Dallas can spend in the coming seasons.
This happened because they were able to spread out and manipulate the money that goes to Williams, so that while the total value is much more over a longer period of time, it doesn’t affect the salary cap in the same way for a little while.
Specifically, the Cowboys saved $24M over the next two seasons, with $12.9M of that becoming immediately available.
The only question now is pretty obvious: how will they spend this newfound cash?
The Obvious Move: Extend George Pickens in 2027
The immediate reaction from fans is a resounding push for the team to pay All-Pro Wide Receiver George Pickens long-term.
Dallas traded for the former Georgia Bulldog before the start of last season, and the Pittsburgh Steelers have looked silly for doing so ever since. Pickens has established himself as a star, but he’s only playing under the franchise tag in 2026.
It is great that he’s fine playing under the tag for this coming season, but the team can’t bank on his morale staying up without a long-term deal forever. This extension for Williams could be the financial opening they need to dig deep into their wallet and get Pickens locked up for good.
“That’s the ultimate goal. So it’s just a lot of moving parts that we’ve got to obviously keep playing option
Stephen Jones even admitted this could be their play, saying it is “the ultimate goal.”
The Not-So Fan-Friendly Move: Save In Case of Emergency
Another route Dallas can go will get cheers from just about nobody in the Cowboys community, and that is essentially letting the money sit there so there is room for contract incentives, practice squad guys, and perhaps a player or two from free agency if injuries arise.
Basically, they could just treat the new money as wiggle room instead of that window I mentioned to spend big again.
Either way, it can’t be overstated how great of a move this was for the Cowboys front office. They moved quickly to keep a key piece in-house long-term, with no contract drama attached, and they gave themselves some financial flexibility in the process.
Now, we’ll have to wait and see how the “new money” gets moved around.
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