Cowboys don't necessarily have to sign Dak Prescott to an extension this offseason

Many have thought since the summer of 2023 that the Dallas Cowboys will have to sign quarterback Dak Prescott to a contract extension this offseason to lower his salary-cap hit for 2024. 

David Moore of The Dallas Morning News mentioned in a piece published Thursday morning such individuals aren't necessarily correct. 

"Two voidable years exist on Prescott’s contract after this season," Moore explained. "An automatic conversion can turn part of his base salary into a signing bonus that’s then distributed over those three seasons. Prescott is scheduled to receive $29M in base salary. Dallas could choose to put all but $1.21M of that into a signing bonus, which would lower his cap hit (from $59.46M) to $40.9M for the upcoming season."

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk noted that Prescott would "count for nearly $55M against the cap in 2025 — even if he signs elsewhere" if Dallas embraced the idea suggested by Moore but then failed to extend the signal-caller's contract by next March. That's not a dealbreaker considering teams often "kick the can down the road" regarding cap hits. 

According to the JoeBucsFan website, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers absorbed $35M in dead money on their 2023 cap following the second retirement of living legend Tom Brady. The Cleveland Browns may once again rework the five-year contract reportedly worth $230M in fully guaranteed money they gave quarterback Deshaun Watson in March 2022 to free up cap space. 

Earlier this week, Florio reported that the NFL salary cap for 2024 could be close to $250M after it was set at $224.8M per club last year. The league seemingly only grows in popularity worldwide each season, so there's little reason to believe the cap won't go up again 12 months from now. 

Moore and Florio both pointed out there are obvious risks in restructuring Prescott’s deal rather than signing the 30-year-old to an extension. With that said, Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy is entering the final year of his contract, so Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones may want to keep all of his options open and let a future version of himself worry about financial matters that could impact the organization after Super Bowl LIX.