Andrew Buller-Russ
The Dallas Cowboys have the least cap space in the NFL. Actually, they’re roughly $58 million over the 2026 spending limit. They’ll need to get below the $301 million budget before the start of the new league year on March 11.
While the Cowboys don’t have any cap space right now, team owner Jerry Jones is still insisting that Dallas will basically buy a better defense this offseason.
“I would bet that we will spend more money in free agency than we have. I want you to know that the only way to push forward is for me to go borrow some of my future. Expect me to go borrow some of my future, okay? So that’s one representation that you’re thinking of now, as opposed to in the future.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
I look at where we are with Dak [Prescott], and I look at where he is in his career. I look at some of the pluses that we have on our front, what we think we could do there, and what we could do with [George] Pickens and [CeeDee] Lamb, and what we could do with our running back that we just signed. I want to do everything we possibly can to stop somebody, and to basically win some third downs more than we did last year. So I think that would be the area that you would see me bust the budget.”
It’s obvious that Jones believes the Cowboys are in a special place with a core they can win with. Armed with two first-round picks, plus an aggressive mindset in free agency, expect Dallas to make some moves.
As noted, the Cowboys still need to try and work out a long-term contract with Pickens, yet if the Pro Bowl receiver is satisfied with playing under the $27.2 million franchise tag, it could potentially save the team some money this season. They also need to satisfy All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey’s desire to become the NFL’s highest-paid kicker.
Throughout it all, Jones still believes the Cowboys will be big players in free agency. Yet, they can recover $66 million in cap space by restructuring the contracts of Prescott, Lamb, and Tyler Smith. In other words, just as Jones insists, watch out for the Cowboys in free agency and on the trade market, where they have some extra draft capital to play with.
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