On Monday evening, the NFL world received an interest boost with the Cowboys and franchise quarterback Dak Prescott agreeing to a new deal. On Wednesday morning, the parameters of how that deal’s structure fits into the bigger team picture when the salary cap for the 2021 NFL league year was finally confirmed at $182.5 million, as reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The number was expected to land around $185 million a month and soon after the floor for the cap was raised from $175 million to $180 million. This number lands right in the middle.
Teams are now being informed: The cap is $182.5M.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2021
Teams prepared for the salary cap to drop as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic limiting fans and revenue for the NFL and its teams. The floor was set last summer over the anticipated loss in revenu.
With the cap confirmed, the loss of $15.7 million will have an influence on most if not all NFL teams, but the Cowboys prepared for this moment, leaving a bunch of unused cap space from last season that they and each NFL team is able to rollover to the next year’s cap.
NFL set 2021 salary cap at $182.5M. An expected fallout from pandemic, this is well below last year’s $198.2M and the prepandemic estimate of $210M.
According to NFLPA, Cowboys carried $25.4M of unused cap space from last year. Their adjusted cap: $207.9M. Team planned for this.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) March 10, 2021
These preparations made it possible for Dallas to Dak Prescott to a monster deal of four years with an average of $40 million per year, only behind former MVP Patrick Mahomes. Prescott’s first-year cap hit is $22.2 million, which means that thanks to the cap being above the floor of $180 million, none of Prescott’s teammates are going to be released as a direct result of creating room for Prescott’s deal prior to the start of the league year on March 17.
All NFL teams need to be compliant with the cap by 3:00 p.m. central on that date.
With their franchise quarterback locked in until he’s 31, the Cowboys can now turn their heads to other players who will be testing free agency and look to improve the team around Prescott. There will still be releases and restructures, but those can be seen as moves necessary to improving the team, not appeasing Prescott’s salary demands.
And with the new television deals coming for the NFL soon, this cap decrease will likely be shortlived.
One league source on the Dak Prescott deal: "You know what this is? This is Jerry Jones tipping off the extraordinary TV deal that is coming."
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2021
With the unrestricted free agency tampering window opening on March 15, the Cowboys will likely be able to create enough space to engage in the market at some level.
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