The Dallas Cowboys’ recent contract reshuffling has naturally stirred up bigger questions about where the money is going and where it’s already gone. Even when a move clears the runway for a new splash, the old deals don’t just disappear. That’s the reality Dallas is still living with as it heads toward the 2026 NFL season.
Dead cap is the tax teams pay for moving on from expensive misses, and the Cowboys have plenty of those receipts still sitting on the ledger. Some players are finally off the books. Others are still costing Dallas real money despite no longer being in the building.
Three veterans are now done costing the Cowboys after 2025, and every dollar matters as the front office tries to navigate a tricky cap picture. Michael Gallup carried an $8.7 million dead cap hit in 2025, on top of $4.35 million in 2024, even though he hadn’t played for Dallas or in the NFL at all since 2023. That burden is finally gone in 2026.
DeMarcus Lawrence is another one the Cowboys can stop paying. He barely played in 2024 because of injury, then landed a big deal with the Seattle Seahawks the next offseason.
Still, Dallas was stuck with a $7.5 million dead cap hit in 2025. That charge disappears now.
Brandin Cooks also comes off the books after carrying a $4.0 million dead cap hit in 2025. He wasn’t a total non-factor in Dallas, but the trade never really worked out the way the Cowboys hoped. The final payment is behind them.
But not every old mistake is fully cleaned up yet.
Trevon Diggs is still on the books for $5.9 million. Dallas technically absorbed an $11.6 million dead cap hit after releasing him last season, though that was a little misleading because he still played in 9 games for the Cowboys in 2025. The real sting hits this year, when the team will pay him south of $6 million to be on the Seattle Seahawks' practice squad.
Osa Odighizuwa is another costly reminder of how quickly dead money can pile up. Dallas is taking a $16 million dead cap hit for him, which is almost 5% of the salary cap. That hit only lasts this year, but it’s a massive chunk to be paying for a player now elsewhere in the NFC.
Then there’s Zack Martin, who is in a different category altogether. It’s hard to be upset with a franchise legend, but the Cowboys are still swallowing an $8.8 million dead cap hit in one season and a $15.3 million hit in the next after his retirement. After everything he gave Dallas, that’s a painful price tag - even if it comes with a ticket to Canton.
In Other News...
Cowboys Just Raised The Stakes On DaRon Bland And Jake Ferguson
The Cowboys made a notable cap maneuver by restructuring the contracts of Kenny Clark, DaRon Bland and Jake Ferguson, and the ripple effect is bigger than a simple bookkeeping update. The moves cleared $19 million in space and pushed Dallas to $33 million in available cap room, giving the front office much more room to work as it looks ahead to the next phase of roster building.
Bland and Ferguson also now carry larger dead-cap hits, which makes a quick exit far less likely and underscores how seriously Dallas is treating both players in its long-term plans. The bigger question is what the Cowboys do with all that flexibility, because the kind of financial room they just created could put a major defensive swing within reach as they eye the 2026 market. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Just Showed Which Fringe Players They Trust Most
The Cowboys have finished trimming to their 53-man roster, and the final decisions offered a decent read on which fringe players won the staff over this summer. Undrafted rookie receiver Camden Brown made the cut after a strong preseason, a sign Dallas is willing to reward production when a young player forces his way into the conversation. Jonathan Mingo, a former second-round pick, also held onto a spot, giving the Cowboys another receiver option as they sort out the depth behind their top names.
Tyrus Wheat was another player who made enough of an impression to stick, thanks largely to his work on special teams and the value he provides as depth on the defensive edge. For a team that always has to balance upside with reliability at the bottom of the roster, those are the kinds of roles that matter. The bigger takeaway is less about one surprise and more about which players the Cowboys clearly trust to help them navigate the season if injuries or matchup needs start forcing the issue. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Just Added A Risky New Twist To Their Tackle Battle
The Cowboys have added another layer to their offensive line picture by trading for Broderick Jones from the Steelers, a move that gives them extra depth and a fresh challenger at right tackle. Dallas sent draft picks to bring in a former first-round talent whose career has already been marked by both promise and turbulence, including a neck injury and stretches of uneven play that have kept the evaluation process going longer than expected.
Jones is still working his way back to full strength after missing time, and the fit is not as simple as plugging him into one spot and moving on. He has looked more comfortable at left tackle at times, but technique and consistency have remained issues, which is what makes this competition so interesting for the Cowboys. It also leaves the front office with a familiar kind of offensive-line question: whether the upside is worth the uncertainty, and how quickly Jones can turn opportunity into trust. [Read more 🡒]