Cowboys exploring options to keep Pro Bowl tackle

Entering the 2023 league year needing to address some salary cap issues, the Dallas Cowboys might have to make some tough decisions. However, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the team would prefer to keep their Pro Bowl offensive tackle on board. 

Per Fowler, the Cowboys are working on a "resolution" to keep two-time All-Pro Tyron Smith.

Smith, a 13-year veteran, is due $13.6 million for the coming season, but Fowler notes that a reworking of Smith's deal is possible. And it wouldn't be the first time. Since signing an eight-year, $97.6M contract with the Cowboys in 2014, Dallas has converted salary from the deal into a signing bonus five times. 

The 32-year-old Smith was limited to only four games played last season after suffering a torn hamstring and knee avulsion fracture in August. After staying relatively healthy for most of his ca reer, the injury bug has followed Smith around recently. Over the previous three seasons, Smith has played in just 17 games. 

Projected to be over the NFL's salary cap ahead of the 2023 season, the Cowboys need to do some reshuffling. The Cowboys, for now, have a large chunk of cap space tied up in the backfield, $27.681,000, to be exact. According to analyst Warren Sharp, that would be the highest amount paid to a group of running backs in NFL history. On top of Tony Pollard's guaranteed $10 million franchise tag, Ezekiel Elliott is due $16.7 million in 2023. 

What the Cowboys plan to do with Elliott's massive cap hit remains unclear. Dallas is unlikely to cut Elliott, costing them an $11.8 hit in dead money and only freeing up $4.8 million. That leaves restructuring his deal as the only realistic option. Elliott has four seasons remaining on a six-year, $90 million contract.