Update:
Clarence Hill reports that the Cowboys have alsoย restructured CB Brandon Carr‘s contract and freed up another $10.5 million.
Nick Eatmanย reports that WRย Miles Austin alsoย restructured his contract and freed up anotherย $3 million in cap space.
There was some talk that Austin could be on the chopping block, but this news effectively ends thatย speculation.
Update:
Todd Archer reports that the Dallas Cowboys have alsoย restructured the contracts of TE Jason Witten and G Nate Livings.
Archer adds that they’ve created an additional $3.65 million with Witten’s contract alone by converting $4.56 million of his 2013 $5.5 million base salary into a signing bonus.
As for Livings, they reduced hisย $1.7 millionย base salary toย $715,000 with the difference between the two turned into signing bonus. They’ll saveย $740,000 with this move.
You can expect the Cowboys to continue reworking more contracts in the next few days.
Update:
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that theย Cowboys have in fact restructured DeMarcus Ware‘s contract.
They’ll convert his $5 million base salary into a signing bonus that will be prorated over the course of the deal. This will createย $4 million in much needed cap space for the Cowboys.
Albert Breer reports that while the Cowboys will saveย $4 million this year, Ware’s cap figures for the next two years will balloon toย $17 million and and close to $18.5 million respectively.
Schefter adds that Dallas is prepared toย rework the contracts of “about a dozen more players” in the next few days.
Pro Football Talk reports that a “source with knowledge of the situation” has informed them that the Cowboysย have asked LB Dan Connor to take a pay cut or be released.
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According toย Ian Rapoport,ย the Cowboys are looking to restructure the contracts of LB DeMarcus Ware and TE Jason Witten, among others, if they’re unable to get a new deal done with QB Tony Romo.
Rapoport adds that the Cowboys are currently $20 million over the cap, so they would be forced to free up a lot of money in the next few weeks.
Besides Ware and Witten,ย Rapoport lists:ย OTย Doug Free, CBย Brandon Carr, DTย Jason Hatcher, Gย Nate Livings, QBย Kyle Orton, DBย Orlando Scandrick and WRย Miles Austin as others who could be asked to rework their current contracts.
Typically, these moves involved reducing their current salaries to the league minimum and converting the remaining cash into a signing bonus that’s paid out over the duration of the contract. This is a great tactic for the time being, but has the ability to complicate their situations in the coming years.
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