Cowboys OT’s Remarkable Journey Earns Him Hefty Payday

On Sunday afternoon, the Dallas Cowboys and RT Terence Steele reached a five year, $86.8 Million contract. Steele will now spend the next five years in Texas protecting QB Dak Prescott.

The ladder to the NFL is steeper for some than others. Players battle through adversity, injury, and despite their best efforts, they aren’t always drafted. Going undrafted still makes multiple NFL dreams come true, but there’s no guarantee they’ll pan out.

For this young Dallas Cowboy, the dream is alive and well. The former Red Raider came to Dallas in the 2020 offseason as an undrafted free agent, and he was quite the overlooked prospect. As time passed, so did his issues on the field. Here is why Terrence Steele’s payday is well deserved, and how it helps the team.

Terence Steele Climbs The Rankings, Earns Befitting Payday

The Line is Held Down

The 2020 NFL Season was many things, but for Dallas, healthy was not one of them. The Cowboys spent the entire 2020 season watching starter after starter fall to injury. Once Quarterback Dak Prescott went down, many wrote the season off as a loss. Dallas was in a rut they couldn’t seem to break.

So was Terence Steele. TV’s across Texas were shouted at as a result of his bad play. However, the pressure didn’t break Steele, and he learned a lot in the off-season. His play has gotten better every single season, taking him from liability to necessary asset quickly. He and Zack Martin are now locked in for the next several years on their mission to protect Dak Prescott. There is no doubt now that the front office knows who their untouchables are, and Steele now joins the group.

The line is completely locked down, both physically and on contracts. Look for Cowboys RT Terrence Steele to earn his first Pro Bowl nod in 2023.

Overcoming Adversity

Tyler Smith, Zack Martin, and Terence Steele. While the first two projects were highly touted studs, Steele was virtually unknown coming out of the draft. He was ranked as the 16th best OT prospect in the 2020 draft class. This put him behind currently struggling tackles like Matt Peart and Lucas Niang. Steele’s first year brought many Cowboys fans back to the Chaz Green days. His holding penalties and rookie mistakes left people questioning what he was doing there in the first place. The pressure was on, but pressure makes diamonds.

Steele was thrown right in the frying pan due to injuries to other offensive lineman. The spotlight shifted right to him, and he did poorly to begin. However, each snap saw improvement. Steele’s 2021 campaign began turning heads, and 2022 caught the attention of the front office. His journey was an uphill battle, but he reached paydirt this Sunday.

Cowboys OT Terence Steele is one of the better stories in today’s NFL. Look for the motivation to take him far in 2023.

A Fitting Price to Pay

When the deal is broken down by year, Steele is going to earn $17.32 million annually. That’s a lot of pancakes.

However, don’t be fooled by this price tag. When it comes to certain positions in football, you get exactly what you pay for. Underpay, and you get underperformance. Pay the right price, and you get the right man for the job. Just look at the Trent Williams deal with San Francisco. It seems like $23 million annually might have just been worth every penny.

The two offensive linemen are two very different players who play with different styles. While Steele’s reputation is not close to that of Trent Williams, his name is becoming more and more common in Dallas households. Watch for Cowboys right tackle Terence Steele to be playing the best football of his career after his fitting paycheck.