With free agency set to begin on Tuesday, the Dallas Cowboys will begin to maneuver with the contract structures of several players in the coming days--including wide receiver Dez Bryant--in order to free up more cap space to pursue free agents, multiple sources have reported.
The team is currently about $12.5 million under the cap, but if they’d like to be big players in free agency as owner and general manager Jerry Jones has said, this number will have to grow through restructuring, as well as cutting players. Terence Newman, who is due over $6 million in 2012 seems a strong candidate for the latter, while the aforementioned Bryant will likely see some shifting around in the language of his deal.
As Calvin Watkins of ESPN Dallas explains, the team can make a $1.4 million signing bonus owed to Bryant a roster bonus, and therefore save around $957,000 in cap space. Further, the team could reportedly save more than $8 million with some similar reworking on the contracts of Orlando Scandrick and Doug Free.
No moves have been made yet, but as the beginning of the league year drawing close, we wouldn’t be surprised to see some moving and shaking in the coming days.
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