Todd Archer of ESPN reports that the Cowboys have restructured the contracts of LT Tyron Smith and C Travis Frederick, which freed up roughly $17.3 million of cap space.
The Cowboys accomplished this by turning roughly $21 million of the $24 million owed to Smith in Frederick into signing bonuses, which freed up the cap room.
This move will get the Cowboys under the proposed 2017 cap limit of $168 million. Dallas won’t receive this cap space to work with until the start of the 2017 league year on March 9.
As of today, OverTheCap.com had the Cowboys $12,933,063 over the projected salary cap, so moves clearly had to be made in the coming weeks.
Smith, 26, is a former first-round pick of the Cowboys back in 2011. He signed a ten-year, $109 million contract with Dallas back in 2014 that includes $40 million guaranteed.
Smith was set to make a base salary of $10 million for the 2017 season.
In 2016, Smith appeared in 13 games for the Cowboys and was rated by Pro Football Focus as the No. 16 offensive tackle out of 78 qualifying players.
Frederick, 25, is a former first-round pick of the Cowboys back in 2013. He’s entering the second year of his eight-year, $66.56 million that included $26.2 million guaranteed.
Frederick was set to make a base salary of $14.221 million for the 2017 season.
In 2016, Frederick appeared in all 16 games for the Cowboys and was rated by Pro Football Focus as the No. 2 center out of 38 qualifying players.
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