The Dallas Cowboys created $19.4 million in cap space this week by restructuring the contracts of DaRon Bland, Kenny Clark, and Jake Ferguson. Owner Jerry Jones has flirted with a big trade all summer, but multiple insiders now suggest the extra room will simply roll into 2027.
ESPN’s Jenny Slater reported that the front office has cooled on the idea of a splashy in-season acquisition. That is not what Cowboys fans want to hear, given the roster’s most obvious holes are still along the offensive line and at edge rusher, and the extra cap space could plausibly buy an immediate answer.
Jones has hinted repeatedly at wanting a marquee move. He mentioned Micah Parsons trade rumors, Kirk Cousins backup plans, and a mystery pass rusher during a training camp presser in July. So far, nothing has materialized beyond mid-tier free agent signings.
The restructures themselves are standard NFL accounting. Convert base salary to signing bonus, spread the cap hit over future years, and buy short-term flexibility. Bland, Clark, and Ferguson all agreed to the moves without any push for new money, which is a sign that the locker room still trusts the front office direction.
Bland’s restructure was the biggest, freeing $8.9 million alone. The All-Pro cornerback is coming off a career year and is entering the fourth year of the deal he signed in 2024. Clark, acquired in the spring from Green Bay, freed another $6.8 million. Ferguson’s restructure cleared $3.7 million and gave Dallas breathing room to make in-season roster moves.
Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb are both healthy heading into Week 1. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer has emphasized ball control and defense in every media availability, a marked departure from the wide-open scheme Mike McCarthy ran. The identity shift has been well received in the locker room.
The problem is the front office may be overestimating internal development. Sam Williams needs to become a real double-digit sack guy. Marshawn Kneeland has to earn snaps at defensive end. The offensive line is still rebuilding after tackle Terence Steele’s decline last year. Cap space fixes at least one of those, and rolling it into 2027 helps nothing this fall.
Dallas opens the season Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. That game already carries enormous weight, and the Cowboys’ actual roster construction will be under a microscope from the opening drive.
Jerry Jones has one more month before the trade deadline. History says he cannot help himself, and the cap space is now sitting there waiting for him to make it interesting.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
