Cowboys Rumors: Dak Prescott Contract Restructure Talks Held to Open Salary-Cap Space

The Dallas Cowboys are "trying to restructure" quarterback Dak Prescott's four-year, $160 million contract to clear cap space for retaining free agents like wideout Michael Gallup, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.

Per that report, one route would be converting much of his $20 million base salary in 2022 into a signing bonus, freeing up cap space in the short term but increasing his cap hit in seasons to come.

Increasing those cap hits could become somewhat prohibitive. Prescott already has a cap hit of $45.5 million in 2023 and $48.5 million in 2024. He also has a dead-cap figure of $14.5 million in 2025.

However, Dallas has two reasons to feel comfortable with dealing with those cap repercussions in future years.

For starters, the Cowboys are in "win now" mode. They have a talented core, albeit one that has underachieved come the postseason, given the team's lone playoff win in the past seven seasons. Using cap space to keep key starters in place is easy to justify if you win a title, future considerations be damned.

The Cowboys also have a number of talented players set for free agency, led by Gallup, tight end Dalton Schultz, edge-rusher Randy Gregory, guard Connor Williams and safety Jayron Kearse, among others.

The other reason, as noted by Florio: "The cap will keep going up and up, especially with the pandemic in the rearview mirror, new TV deals kicking in and gambling money constantly increasing. As the cap goes up, the relative impact of each cap dollar shrinks as it moves from one year to the next."

It's not fully a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too situation. Prescott's potential future cap hit will be massive regardless of increases to the cap, and like any team with a superstar quarterback on the books, the Cowboys will have to be creative building their team around it. That said, a 2022 restructure is one logical option.

The Cowboys may also free up cap space by moving on from wideout Amari Cooper, who is reportedly a candidate to be released or traded, which would remove his $22 million cap hit for the upcoming season. 

As CeeDee Lamb continues to develop into a No. 1 option in the passing game, moving on from Cooper may be more palatable. Dallas has options to free up cap space as it looks to shore up the roster for a Super Bowl run.