Salary cap won't be issue for Cowboys
As executive vice president Stephen Jones said late last season, the Cowboys will be able to do whatever it is they want to do when free agency begins in March.
According to league figures, the Cowboys have $12.6 million in salary-cap room based off the 2011 cap of $120.375 million, and that includes the $28 million (or so) in dead money related to guys like Roy Williams, Leonard Davis, Marc Colombo, Marion Barber, Andre Gurode and Igor Olshansky who were cut in 2011.
The 2012 cap is expected to remain flat or go up slightly.
The $12.6 million figure does not take into account the tender amounts the Cowboys have for their exclusive rights and restricted free agents or the space needed for their draft picks, but that will not significantly impair their ability to sign players.
The Cowboys can create more room against the cap by releasing cornerback Terence Newman and saving either $4 million or $6 million depending on whether they would want to count him as a post-June 1 cut.
They have triggers in the deals of left tackle (or right tackle) Doug Free and cornerback Orlando Scandrick that would lower their base salaries to the league minimum, turn the difference into signing bonus and save them about $8.6 million. Re-working DeMarcus Ware’s contract would open up about $3.3 million
All told, the Cowboys could have in the neighborhood of $20 million or so to spend when free agency begins.
That’s not a bad place to be.
Todd Archer
ESPNDallas.com
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Calvin Watkins
Calvin Watkins joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He's covered the Cowboys since 2006 and also has covered colleges, boxing and high school sports.
Todd Archer
Todd Archer joined ESPNDallas.com in November 2010. He's covered the NFL since 1997 and the Cowboys since 2003. He covered the Bengals and Dolphins before arriving in Dallas. A Massachusetts native, Archer lives in the Dallas area with his wife and two children.
Tim MacMahon
Tim MacMahon joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. Tim covers the Cowboys and Mavericks. He has covered the local sports scene from high schools to colleges to pros during his six-year tenure at The Dallas Morning News. MacMahon is a graduate of UNT.
Jean-Jacques Taylor
Jean-Jacques Taylor joined ESPNDallas.com in August 2011. A native of Dallas, Taylor spent the past 20 years writing for The Dallas Morning News, where he covered high schools sports, the Texas Rangers and spent 11 seasons covering the Dallas Cowboys before becoming a general columnist in 2006.
Ben Rogers
Ben Rogers joined ESPNDallas.com in November 2009. He is one half of "The Ben & Skin Show," heard weekdays from 9a-12p on 103.3 FM ESPN.
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