Every penny counts, and of all the Cowboys who've exemplified the saying over the last few years, Dez Bryant might just fit best. [Update] According to NFL.com's Jason LaConfora, Bryant and the team have agreed to restructure his contract, changing a roster bonus into a signing bonus to allow for more cap flexibility this season. The media around the Metroplex are stating that Bryant is currently in discussions with the team to do just that, though it appears close. It may just be semantics in the end.
Two of the league’s most explosive wide receivers — Andre Johnson of the Texans and Dez Bryant of the Cowboys — are among those who are restructuring their deals in order to create more salary cap space for their teams, according to sources.
-- NFL.com
[/Update]
Even when you're dealing with billionaires and millionaires, robbing Peter to pay Paul is a one of the biggest necessities of staying competitive and afloat. In the NFL things are no different as all 32 of the teams, including the Cowboys, are preparing for the announcement of the 2012 salary cap limit.
That number will be released tomorrow, according to NFL.com's Jason LaConfora, and will be in roughly the same ballpark as last year's $120 million despite attempts by the NFLPA to increase it over the last few days. Now that the presumed $3 million or so will not be available, teams might be more inclined to look for various ways to reclaim some of the cap room they had penciled in.
Bryant has three years remaining on his rookie deal. By changing his roster bonus (originally scheduled to be paid 3/23/12) to a signing bonus, it transforms his cap hit for this year from $2.775 million to $1.815 million; giving Dallas about $960K of additional maneuver room.
The only penalty for the change is that $480,000 are added to the cap in each of the subsequent two years, 2013 and 2014. Should Bryant make the expected third-year receiver leap in 2012, one could easily project a new deal to be on the horizon for the talented yet as-of-now unfulfilled wideout.