With the Super Bowl now in the rearview mirror of the 2023 NFL season, all 32 teams can set their sights on 2024.
We are 203 days away from the 2024 season opener featuring the back-to-back Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting what's sure to be a compelling opponent.
The Dallas Cowboys' season ended abruptly last month at the hands of the Green Bay Packers.
There have already been big changes in Dallas, starting with the departure of Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn to be the head coach in Washington.
Quinn's exit appears to have triggered a mini landslide in the defensive coaching ranks.
Joe Whitt Jr., former defensive passing game coordinator, followed Quinn to Washington with a promotion to defensive coordinator.
Aden Durde, former defensive line coach, accepted a promotion to be the defensive coordinator in Seattle under new HC Mike McDonald.
Al Harris, the current defensive backs coach, is likely not going anywhere soon.
Quinn and the Commanders asked the Cowboys for permission to interview Harris for a spot on the Washington staff, but the request was blocked.
As far as team personnel is concerned, the chopping block for players usually doesn't come until the beginning of March just before free agency opens.
It's never too early to look ahead and forecast salary cap-friendly moves that GM Jerry Jones, EVP Stephen Jones, and VP of Player Personnel Will McClay can make.
There are obvious moves like extending Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, so I won't be mentioning those.
Let's discuss some other moves that can be made to massage the salary cap.
Cut Michael Gallup
Of all the moves that could be made to create some space in the bloated salary cap, this one is probably the most obvious.
The Cowboys took a huge risk by leveraging Michael Gallup's torn ACL to sign him to a more palatable contract.
That gamble has not paid off, even though Gallup got his payday.
Gallup signed a 5yr/$57.5 million contract at the end of the 2021 season to keep him in Dallas for the foreseeable future.
What Dallas failed to foresee was that Gallup would not recover to be the player he was before, instead just a shell of himself.
After suffering a calf injury that kept him out until Week 10 of the 2021 season, Gallup finished the season strong.
Extrapolating his stats into a full 16-game season based on that small sample, Gallup could have been expected to finish the season with a 62/818/4TD stat line.
I can see how the Cowboys felt confident extending the contract of a player on the rise, but the return on investment just isn't there.
Gallup recorded a 34/418/3TD stat line in 2023 and began to lose snaps to second-year player Jalen Tolbert.
A post-June 1st release would save the Cowboys $9.5 million towards the salary cap, and they would incur a $4.5 million dead money cap hit over the next two seasons.
Extend Brandin Cooks
Let's keep it in the wide receiver room, shall we?
We just discussed designating Michael Gallup a post-June 1st cut to save the Cowboys nearly $10 million in cap space.
This time let's keep a wide receiver on the roster who has had a positive impact on the team, both on and off the field.
Brandin Cooks was acquired from the Houston Texans via trade last summer and his arrival helped open up the offense.
Cooks might not have put up gaudy numbers, but he did take attention away from CeeDee Lamb so he could put up career numbers.
Along with his 54/657/8TD stat line, Cooks brought leadership to a very young wide receiver room, helping with the development of Lamb and Tolbert.
As the only clear WR2 behind Lamb for the 2024 season, Dallas can massage the cap by converting some of Cooks' $8.0 million salary into signing bonuses.
Not only would that help the salary cap, but it would also keep a locker room favorite in the building to continue mentoring younger players.
Add that to whatever savings the team will incur by extending CeeDee Lamb, and these two moves are perfect for the team.
