It’s often said roster building is as much about cap management as it’s talent acquisition. That’s because for as pliable as the NFL salary cap is, teams can’t afford top-of-the-market veterans at every position. Cheap alternatives must be found and typically those alternatives are found in young players working on rookie contracts.
The Dallas Cowboys are usually quite savvy in matters such as these. They value draft picks as much as anyone and make every effort to pack their roster with players on rookie deals. Micah Parsons notwithstanding, they are therefore willing and able to pony up of the cash to make long-term investments when the time comes. Market-busting deals don’t just happen on their own, they require salary cap foresight and accommodating position groups to set the stage. For a great example of this, look no further than the Cowboys offensive line.
If one separates edge rushers and interior defenders as two seperate groups, no position takes up more cap space than the five-starter offensive line. The Cowboys currently rank 25th in the league in OL spending for 2026, at just under $45.5 million.
The Cowboys place massive value on the quality of their OL, and they have the receipts to prove it. With three first-round picks and one third-round pick invested over the last five years, it’s a group loaded with pedigree. But with big investment comes big financial expectations and as these young players start moving off their rookie deals and into top-of-the-market extensions, keeping the unit under budget becomes the primary challenge.
They’ve already extended their top offensive lineman, Tyler Smith, to a massive new deal and soon face decisions with Cooper Beebe, Tyler Guyton and Tyler Booker. Luckily for the Cowboys, contracts have been staggered to the point Dallas should be able to afford all their up-and-coming stars.
Generally, Dallas can only afford to pay three high-dollar deals at a time on their offensive line. Any more going to the offensive line will unbalance the roster and hurt a different area of the team. But the timelines are situated in a way that this three-veteran cap shouldn’t be a problem.
Beebe, Dallas’ third-year center, is set to be a free agent in 2028. That means 2027 is a contract year and a new deal could come at any time next season. With Terence Steele and Smith already on high dollar deals, Beebe would be the third and final high-priced veteran on the line based on those self-imposed restrictions. One could read that and think there’s no room for Guyton, should he prove his worth, or for Booker, who looks like a budding star in his own right. But that ignores Steele’s upcoming contract situation.
Steele, 29, reworked his contract over the last offseason to save the Cowboys money, all while providing himself more job security. Cutting him in the next two seasons would result in more dead cap than active, making him a pretty safe bet to stick around until 2028. 2028 just so happens to be the year Guyton hits his fifth-year option, so the contracts are perfectly staggered in a way Beebe and Guyton replace Steele on the highly-paid veteran section of payroll.
On paper, this would create a dilemma for Booker, who enters his fifth year in 2029 and unrestricted free agency in 2030 because Smith, Beebe and Guyton would already be under contract. Then again, Smith’s contract only runs through 2030 so the overlap isn’t impossible and who knows what the rest of the roster will look like at that point. Besides, this all assumes Guyton progresses to the point of being worth a high-dollar extension. There’s a good chance he’ll never live up to his potential and this “problem” solves itself. What’s important to note here is the Cowboys have staggered their contracts on their offensive line well enough to facilitate all scenarios.
For all of the shade the Cowboys front office gets for their frugal and profit-driven motives, they did a pretty good job keeping things manageable on their offensive line.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys’ $45.5M position group well budgeted, timed for big extensions
Reporting by Reid D Hanson, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Reid D Hanson, Cowboys Wire | USA TODAY Network
