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This past week was an interesting one for movement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement as reports of what both the NFL and NFLPA were up to swirled all week.
It is starting to feel like a new CBA is somewhat imminent, but nothing like that is ever a lock or guarantee. There are plenty of things that will impact the Dallas Cowboys and the rest of the NFL if a new one is agreed to, things like 17 games in the regular season and a new playoff format are part of the possibilities.
Without question, though, the most important detail to note about CBA negotiations for the Cowboys immediate future is that if a new one is agreed to, it will revoke all teams’ ability to utilize both the franchise and transition tags this offseason (they are currently allowed to use both as opposed to just one as it is the Final League Year). That’s a big deal for a Cowboys team that needs new deals for Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper, and Byron Jones.
The franchise tag deadline was just delayed by two days which provides Dallas more time
On Saturday night it was reported that the NFL and NFLPA agreed to push both the start and end of the franchise tag window by two days. This means that the window to tag players will open on February 27th (as opposed to the 25th) and close on March 12th (as opposed to the 10th).
NFLPA and NFL Mgmt Council have pushed back the start of the franchise designation period from Tuesday Feb 25 to Thursday Feb 27, and period now will end March 12 instead of March 10, per source. Absent of a new CBA agreement, each team can use a franchise and transition tag.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 23, 2020
If you were looking for any sign of good news for the Cowboys then this is it. While it’s hardly incredible news this does, at the very least, mean that the Cowboys (just like everyone else) now have at least 48 more hours than they previously did to negotiate extensions with the players that they were potentially going to tag. That could be extremely valuable if they do ultimately lose the ability to use two tags as this offseason offers.