Cowboys restructure Prescott and Lamb deals, but any impact on free agency is murky

Emphasis on "might."

“I don’t think ‘aggressive’ is the right word,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Wednesday after a retirement ceremony for seven-time All-Pro right guard Zack Martin. “I wouldn’t call us really void in any area, void if you include what we’re going to do in the draft. I’m not looking at free agency as a place to fill a void.”

The restructuring of Prescott's $240 million, four-year contract — the first in league history with an average annual value of $60 million — carved out almost $37 million in cap space.

That move Wednesday came a day after the Cowboys created $20 million in cap space with a restructure of Lamb's $136 million, four-year deal. Both contracts were signed last year.

Next up for a big payday is star edge rusher Micah Parsons, and preliminary talks have begun.

Parsons is entering the fifth and final season of his rookie contract and could end up as the league's highest-paid defensive player. Las Vegas edge rusher Maxx Crosby just took over that title with a contract that averages $35.5 million annually.

Lamb also was entering the final season of his rookie contract a year ago and held out the entire offseason and most of the preseason awaiting a new deal. Parsons hasn't indicated he plans to follow suit.

“The goal was to do CeeDee early,” executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones said. “That's always the goal, to get it done when you can get it.”

The Cowboys re-signed defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, giving the anchor of their interior defensive front an $80 million, four-year contract.

Dallas is bringing back special teams ace C.J. Goodwin on a one-year deal along with all three of the club's exclusive rights free agents — Brock Hoffman, the likely replacement for Martin at right guard; safety Juanyeh Thomas; and defensive end Tyrus Wheat.

As for outside options, it's been a decade-plus since the Cowboys signed a free agent they expected to have a significant role as a starter.

“As opportunity would come up, not from the draft, not from within, as opportunity comes up, we'll wait,” Jerry Jones said. “We'll look and see on the opportunity that basically, both defense and offense, is to complement what we're wanting to do with a Dak-led team.”

Among the biggest remaining questions with internal free agents are defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and cornerback Jourdan Lewis, a pair of players who have spent their entire careers in Dallas.

Now that Martin has made his retirement official, the key internal decisions on offense involve backup quarterback Cooper Rush and Rico Dowdle, the first undrafted running back in club history to rush for at least 1,000 yards.

“People look at it as you're staying a little bit status quo if you just continue to keep your own guys,” Stephen Jones said. “I think that gets lost in the shuffle. I also get the criticism when you let guys leave.”

There are several big names either available through trades or asking to get traded. Dallas-area native Myles Garrett, the 2023 AP Defensive Player of the Year, has asked Cleveland to trade him, while the Browns have insisted publicly they won't do it.

The Cowboys haven't traded a first-round pick since giving their top choice in the 2019 draft to the Raiders for receiver Amari Cooper in a 2018 midseason deal.

Dallas has the No. 12 pick, which is where the club was after trading down two spots in 2021 and getting Parsons, that year's AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Pro.

“With the way we're built right now, with the resources we've got tied up in Dak and CeeDee and what we want to do with Micah, the picks, especially when you get to pick high, you get really good football players,” Stephen Jones said. “We just sat at the table with one in Zack Martin.”

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