The Dallas Cowboys have some shuffling to do before they can get better. Entering the offseason, they are currently one of 14 teams who are over the projected 2023 salary cap. Dallas has also been a team that maximizes their annual cap space, choosing to spend as close to the ceiling as possible to try and put the best product on the field.
But not all of that cap space is spent on players who are helping the team in that season. No, due to releases, trades and void years, some of the cap space being used is from players who didn’t actually work for the team that season. Dead money refers to space used on the cap for actual cash given to a player in a prior season, and Dallas is using over $8.6 million of their 2023 cap space in this manner.