The Dallas Cowboys allegedly modified Pro Bowl guard Zack Martin’s contract on Friday.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Cowboys turned a portion of Martin’s base salary into a signing bonus, freeing about $13 million in salary cap space.
According to OverTheCap.com, the move brought the Cowboys beneath the cap barrier, resulting in approximately $1.8 million in cap room.
The Dallas Cowboys have pulled the first trigger of the 2024 league season. On Friday, just 72 hours before the legal tampering window for free agency opens, the team took a move that will allow them to begin shopping. It’s unclear if this will happen at Saks Fifth Avenue or Walmart, but teams must be under the $255.4 million salary cap by Wednesday, 4 p.m. eastern time.
Dallas was around $11 million over the cap, but on Friday restructured the final year of Zack Martin’s contract, shifting the cap impact into the future, bringing them under the threshold.
Martin, who was set to earn $18 million in basic salary this season, all guaranteed after a holdout at training camp last year, was expected to cost Dallas $28.5 million against the cap.
A player’s cap hit is a combination of the current year’s base salary and incentives, as well as any amortized bonus money from past seasons spread out over the contract’s term.
In addition to his base income, Martin was eligible for $10.5 million in incentive payments in 2024.
Dallas still pays Martin his full $18 million salary, but $16.25 million of it is turned into a bonus, and a third vacant year is added to his contract.
Void years are accounting strategies that allow NFL teams to push cap allocations.
beyond the real length of the agreement. Martin now has four vacant years on his contract, totaling just less than $23 million, spanning 2025 and 2028.
If no deal is reached before next season, the Cowboys’ 2025 cap will include all of the void year cap hits as dead money.
For the time being, Martin’s $16.25 million restructure bonus is divided evenly among the 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2028 cap levels, with $3.25 million per year awarded to each.
Martin’s 2024 cap hit now includes his new basic salary of $1.75 million, his former bonus allocation of $10.5 million, and a new restructure allocation of $3.25 million.
Now Martin’s 2024 cap hit is $15.5 million, saving the organization $13 million.in cap space while continuing to pay Martin the same amount. With NFL wage caps increasing year after year, the $13 million represents a smaller percentage of future year’s caps, effectively giving the team more spending power.
