Salary Cap

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys are in one of the most difficult cap positions in the league right now, sitting on just $2.6M in room (rank 32 of 32) while carrying $34.4M in dead money (rank 14 of 32). The only near-term relief valve is the rollover of $22.9M (rank 3 of 32), which provides some cushion heading into the offseason. The committed salary picture is sobering: $311.8M is already on the books this season, climbing to $335.6M next year before dropping sharply to $241.2M and then $81.7M in subsequent years. That back-loaded relief means Dallas will not truly breathe until the third or fourth season of a franchise cycle. Next year's cap room sits at just $5.2M (rank 25 of 32), so the team cannot count on a sudden spending spree. The most actionable path is cutting the zero-dead-money candidates immediately, starting with T.J. Bass ($5.8M freed, $0 dead), then layering in the other clean releases to piece together workable space, while being cautious about the Malik Hooker cut given his $3.8M dead-money charge that exceeds what the release actually frees.