Tyron Smith restructure leaves Cowboys with almost $23M cap space

The details from the Smith rework have arrived and it’s another great deal for the Cowboys. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The details of the restructure of Tyron Smith’s contract have emerged. Just as Cowboys Wire laid out earlier in the week, Dallas had a path to create over $40 million in cap space by executing savings from Ezekiel Elliott, DeMarcus Lawrence and Tyron Smith’s cap hits. That article also mapped out how converting Michael Gallup’s base salary could save money, too, but that wasn’t a recommended move.

The Cowboys did all of the above, releasing Elliott, converting Gallup and Lawrence’s base salaries into bonuses and restructuring Smith’s deal. The details from the latter have emerged and it turns out that Dallas has added another $9.6 million of cap space. Even after accounting for the deals agreed to with safety Donovan Wilson and linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, and trading for corner Stephon Gilmore, Dallas sits with just under $23 million of cap space now.

Dallas will get an additional $10.9 million in savings once Elliott’s contract comes off the books in June; that money allows for the signing of the draft class and room to maneuver in season. In other words, Dallas can use every penny of that $22.8 million in space they have now if they so choose.

The reworked Smith deal leaves $6 million of dead money on the cap for Dallas in 2024 if they do not bring Smith back.

Smith started yesterday with one final year remaining on his deal for $13.6 million in salary. The issue of course was that Smith hasn’t played a full season in a long time and has missed the majority of several of those years. The new structure will pay him like the elite player he is for the time he actually spends on the field, protecting Dallas for when he’s on the bench.

Dallas added a second void year to Smith’s deal, so he just counts $4 million above his already allocated bonus hit of $4.05 million from previous seasons, instead of the $13.6 million.

What will Dallas do with the money? Scuttlebutt and rumors are swirling around a WR pickup, with fans discussing their favorite trade targets such as Artizona’s DeAndre Hopkins or the Bills’ Stefon Diggs, while others think an agreement with free agent Odell Beckham, Jr. is the direction Dallas is heading. To this point, no beat reporter has confirmed progress on any of these fronts; it remains water cooler talk. For now.