NFL provides expected 2020 cap range, Cowboys could near $90M of space, 2 tags

The Cowboys have 24 unrestricted free agents along with a handful of RFA and ERFAs. They now have a workable range to decide who to keep.

The Dallas Cowboys have a lot of decisions to make in the 2020 offseason, but they’ll also have a lot of money to spend. The Cowboys have holes all over the roster as soon as the final whistle is blown on their 2019 season. With 24 unrestricted free agents and another five either restricted or exclusive rights, there’s plenty of players at every level of importance they’ll need to decide whether to try and keep or try and replace.

That list includes high profile players such as quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver Amari Cooper, cornerback Byron Jones and defensive end Robert Quinn. Fortunately, they’ll have close to $90 million of salary cap space to address those needs. The NFL informed teams of the expected range for the 2020 cap, and it’s right where projected, an increase of between $8.4 million and $13 million from the 2019 cap.

The 2019 cap was set at $188.2 million.

Dallas didn’t spend nearly that amount, and Over the Cap projects the Cowboys to be able to carry over around $21.4 million of unused cap space into next season. That number will be adjusted by the final calculations of likely-to-be-earned and unlikely-to-be-earned bonuses incentives from the season, which can sometimes boost a team’s carryover upwards of $2 million to $3 million.

With the contracts currently on the books for 2020, Dallas is expected to have north of  $133 million in liabilities. If the cap comes in at $201.2 million, that means the Cowboys will have just shy of $89 million of cap space to spend.

The Cowboys will look to work out long-term arrangements with some, but have the added ability to use both the franchise tag and the transition tag in the same season. Thanks to a clause in the collective bargaining agreement, Dallas can use both to keep two different players under team control.

This means if they are able to agree to only one long-term deal between Prescott, Cooper and Jones, they would be capable of retaining all three while they work towards long-term deals on whomever isn’t first to the signature table.

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