{"id":52934,"date":"2025-06-02T08:55:51","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T08:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52934"},"modified":"2025-06-02T08:55:51","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T08:55:51","slug":"cowboys-urged-to-use-brilliant-salary-cap-move-on-70-million-nfl-all-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52934","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys Urged to Use \u2018Brilliant\u2019 Salary Cap Move on $70 Million NFL All-Pro"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2173819999-e1748811423706.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2173819999-e1748811423706.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2173819999-e1748811423706.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2173819999-e1748811423706.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Justin Simmons\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" data-img-load-time=\"1687\" data-dom-ready-time=\"1745\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Atlanta Falcons safety Justin Simmons.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>While the\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0might not have the best product\u00a0on the field in 2025\u00a0\u2014 they definitely didn\u2019t in 2024 \u2014 one it comes to one aspect of the game, they\u2019re pretty much peerless.<\/p>\n<p>That area? Money. Which might be the most important area, actually.<\/p>\n<p>Not only are the Cowboys the most valuable professional sports franchise in the entire world\u00a0at an estimated $10 billion, they\u2019ve also managed to make some pretty brilliant salary cap moves. That means Dallas still has plenty of money left to make a move this offseason \u2014 one that could help the team in some big ways \u2014 by signing\u00a0free agent safety\u00a0and 4-time NFL All-Pro\u00a0Justin Simmons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(Owner) Jerry Jones is always unpredictable, but he and Stephen Jones have managed to make moves without putting the team in too much of a salary cap squeeze,\u201d\u00a0Sports Illustrated\u2019s Josh Sanchez\u00a0wrote on June 1. \u201cIn fact, Dallas enters the summer with the sixth-most available cap space in the\u00a0NFL\u00a0at just over $30 million. To make things even better for the Cowboys, they can make a handful of more moves in the coming months to open even more cap space, most notably extending superstar\u00a0Micah Parsons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Simmons, who will turn 32 years old in November, spent the 2024 season with the\u00a0Atlanta Falcons\u00a0on a 1-year, $7.5 million contract.<\/p>\n<h2>Premiere Safety on Underachieving NFL Teams<\/h2>\n<p>Simmons heads into the 10th season of his NFL career as one of the leagues\u2019 best safeties in that time despite never having played on a team that qualified for the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Drafted in the third round (No. 98 overall) out of Boston College in the\u00a02016 NFL draft\u00a0by the\u00a0Denver Broncos, Simmons made 4 All-Pro teams and was selected to 2 Pro Bowls in 8 seasons and also led the NFL with 6 interceptions in 2022.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-content entry-content\">\n<p>Simmons was a salary cap casualty before the 2024 season \u2014 collateral damage from the disastrous\u00a0Russell Wilson\u00a0contract \u2014 and wound up on the Falcons as they stumbled their way to an 8-9 record in 2024.<\/p>\n<div id=\"AdThrive_Content_4_desktop\" class=\"adthrive-ad adthrive-content adthrive-content-4 adthrive-ad-cls\" data-google-query-id=\"\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/18190176,25816858\/AdThrive_Content_4\/5ad7479721520f50ab7da88e_0__container__\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"id\/article\/slide\/5200517\/element\/1\" class=\"MuiBox-root css-6emr8c\">\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">\u201cAfter eight standout seasons in Denver that included two Pro Bowls, three second-team All-Pro nods and 30 interceptions, Justin Simmons joined Atlanta in free agency last year. The results were \u2026 less than impressive,\u201d\u00a0Bleacher Report\u2019s Gary Davenport\u00a0wrote on May 31. \u201cHis 62 tackles were his fewest since his rookie year, and his two interceptions tied a career low. Now, the 31-year-old is again looking for work.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Cowboy Probably Need to Sweeten Pot for Simmons<\/h2>\n<p>Simmons has previously expressed his\u00a0desire to play for a contender in 2025, listing the\u00a0Philadelphia Eagles,\u00a0Cincinnati Bengals\u00a0and\u00a0Buffalo Bills\u00a0as teams he would consider.<\/p>\n<p>In that, Simmons made the one fatal mistake any NFL player can make in negotiations \u2014 he acted like he wants to be there. That means those teams will inevitably lowball Simmons. Which leaves an opening for the Cowboys, who\u00a0might just be a few players away\u00a0from sneaking into the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>In that equation, the Cowboys would probably have to start with a 1-year, $7 million offer and guess it\u2019s at least $2 million more per season than any other offer Simmons will receive.<\/p>\n<p>That might be money even someone like Simmons, who has\u00a0$70.3 million in career earnings, might be loathe to turn his back on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Atlanta Falcons safety Justin Simmons. While the\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0might not have the best product\u00a0on the field in 2025\u00a0\u2014 they definitely didn\u2019t in 2024 \u2014 one it comes&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cowboys Urged to Use \u2018Brilliant\u2019 Salary Cap Move on $70 Million NFL All-Pro - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52934\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cowboys Urged to Use \u2018Brilliant\u2019 Salary Cap Move on $70 Million NFL All-Pro - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Atlanta Falcons safety Justin Simmons. 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