Dallas Cowboys Cap Space No Longer Unusual

It's a huge headline when the Dallas Cowboys have the least salary cap room in the NFL. Numerous writers wrote articles that roughly equated the minuscule cap money they had with the coming zombie apocalypse, or worse. But after reaching a deal with quarterback Tony Romo on extending his contract, and without having gotten a long term deal in place to replace Anthony Spencer's franchise tag, the Cowboys are no longer in last place as far as cap room. As a matter of fact, with $4.4 million, as reported by Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk, they have more to work with than eleven other teams. Among them, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New Orleans Saints, the Atlanta Falcons, the Houston Texans, and the San Francisco 49ers.

This is, of course, no longer news. The fact that the Cowboys managed to get to this point, which does seem to be pretty much where Stephen Jones indicated the team would be, is not blazed in headlines. You can read into that what you will. But it does indicate that there is a plan at the heart of things for the Cowboys. The plan seems to be trying to win this year with the core in place while seeking long term help in the draft. There is a lot of angst (or, in some cases, malicious glee) over the perception that Jerry and Stephen Jones got backed into this position. But that does not show any signs of extending to Valley Ranch. There is not a sense of panic.

The Romo deal got done and is by most measures pretty much in line with other recent quarterback deals, and the team is poised to move forward whatever happens with Spencer. The money for the rookies is essentially in the bank with declaring Marcus Spears a June 1st cut, so the team can consider what it wants to do with the money at hand. There are some rumors that the team is looking at available tackles and may want a better option in place before the draft, but other than that, it looks like the team has already positioned itself for using a best player available approach. This may lead to some great talent. But maybe not exactly who everyone is hoping for this year.