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This week has only just begun and it is potentially already going to change in terms of plans, or rather would-be plans, for the Dallas Cowboys.
By now you are well aware that the deadline for the Cowboys to place the franchise tag on Dak Prescott - something they would be doing for the second year in a row - is Tuesday, March 9th. The last year, since about the time of the first tag, has been extremely fluid in the National Football League as the world has been navigating and combatting the Covid-19 pandemic.
One of the football-related implications from the pandemic is the reduced salary cap that has been expected for some time. With revenue lost due to attendance the cap was always going to decrease.
The exact figure for this decrease is yet to be determined. We know that the salary cap floor will be $180M, but the exact cap has not been set yet. It was expected that this would happen this week, as in on Monday, but early in the morning it was reported that this might not be the case which could alter the timeline of the week.
The salary cap may not be set soon enough which would mean the franchise tag deadline could get pushed
Whatever the salary cap winds up being is important obviously as NFL teams are looking to finalize their free agent strategies. Part of this process includes the placing of franchise tags if that winds up being the case, so the salary cap not being defined would be an issue. For what it’s worth the Dak situation is a bit different as his tag value for 2021 is based off of his value from last year, not whatever the cap winds up being.
On Monday morning it was reported that the official salary cap number may not be released on Monday which could potentially delay Tuesday’s tag deadline.
A storyline to follow going forward: If the official salary cap number doesn’t come today and soon, NFL will have to move back the deadline to franchise tag players from Tuesday. It’s a situation several GMs are bracing for and would further stall business for a bit.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2021
It makes sense that however much longer it took for the league to set the cap that this would be however long the deadline would get extended (say the cap was set on Wednesday, then hypothetically it would make sense for the tag deadline to be Thursday). While this technically would buy the Cowboys more time to figure out what they are going to do with Dak Prescott it is unlikely that a few days could impact things significantly.
The Denver Broncos already placed the franchise tag on safety Justin Simmons (also a Todd France client just like Dak Prescott by the way) so the Cowboys could always place it well before the deadline if they feel that this is what they are ultimately going to do. Time will tell if that is the case. Buckle up.