{"id":27490,"date":"2025-02-20T08:27:43","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T08:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27490"},"modified":"2025-02-20T08:27:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T08:27:43","slug":"breaking-cowboys-get-major-news-on-new-salary-cap-announcement-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27490","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING : Cowboys Get Major News On New Salary Cap Announcement ."},"content":{"rendered":"
There is now a new NFL cap number. But the rules and the tools have not changed. There is more than ever a way if the Cowboys have the will. And we won’t let Jerry and Stephen Jones get away with trying to convince you otherwise.<\/div>\n
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The\u00a0NFL\u00a0salary cap is fake?<\/p>\n

Well, not exactly. But close enough. But indisputably, “Cap Hell” fake.<\/p>\n

And suddenly, more than ever,\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0bosses Jerry and Stephen Jones have no excuses for not being “buyers” when March 12 and NFL free agency rolls around.<\/p>\n

The NFL on Wednesday announced to its member teams the cap for the 2025 season will be somewhere between $277.5 and $281.5 million. This is being billed as a “surprise” by some who aren’t paying attention, as CowboysCountry.com has been reporting for almost a year that would would be a jump to around $275 million.<\/p>\n

More in depth here:<\/p>\n

Now, what to do about it?<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Super Bowl\u00a0champion\u00a0Philadelphia Eagles\u00a0and their GM Howie Roseman have become the masters at the usage of the tools – “exploiting” the rules, to some.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs, back-to-win Super Bowl winners, have done the same thing.<\/p>\n

And look at the results?<\/p>\n

Take \u201cvoid years,\u201d for instance.\u00a0(Ironically enough, Jerry Jones vs. the 49ers’ Carmen Policy in the 1990’s helped create this tool.) Void years equal “Flexibility.” They are simply added years built into any particular players contract extension that\u2019ll allow GM\u2019s to \u201cflex\u201d \u201cvoid\u201d or \u201cdefer\u201d guaranteed money further down the line.<\/p>\n

Examples?\u00a0Saquon Barkley\u00a0has void years in Philly.\u00a0Patrick Mahomes<\/a>\u00a0has void years in KC.<\/p>\n

And this is where Dallas’ potential $100 million in cap room that we’ve been explaining for a year comes into focus …)<\/p>\n

Dak Prescott\u2019s current contract runs through 2028. Meaning in 2029 he would become a free agent again. But there are four extra VOID YEARS tacked onto his deal that run through 2032.<\/p>\n

Those void years serve as a dumping ground, and yes, eventually the “piper must be paid.” But that’s not “hell”; it’s just accounting.<\/p>\n

We like to put it this way: \u201cThe cap constraints are fake today but they are real tomorrow.”<\/p>\n

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And if you win today … why are you worried about possible cap imbalance a half-decade from now?<\/p>\n

Part of the beauty of the whole “void years” thing is that whatever money you technically \u201cvoid\u201d into the future, is often at least partly accounted for as a result of the ever-ballooning cap itself.<\/p>\n

So if your roster has $285 million worth of players, but the cap is set at $255 Million like it was in 2024, then you can simply restructure and flex $30 million onto the 2025 books.<\/p>\n

The cap jumped $30 mil from 2023 to 2024. And now it’s about to jump again, by about $25 mil.<\/p>\n

Once again, if your roster reflects that you\u2019ve overspent … you watch and wait as it jumps another $30 mil the next year, then in theory, you\u2019re back to even.<\/p>\n

t<\/a>he Eagles\u00a0do. And that’s OK … as we reference back to the realities of “Cap Hell” …<\/p>\n

The Eagles currently have $400 million worth of contractual spending allocated to future \u201cvoid years.”<\/p>\n