No deal between Dallas Cowboys and Dalton Schultz, he will officially play 2022 on franchise tag

It has felt obvious for a while now that the Dallas Cowboys and Dalton Schultz would not reach a long-term deal before the franchise tag deadline, and that the tight end would play the 2022 season on the tag contract that he already signed.

The possibility for a new deal always existed and we have seen some come out of nowhere in the past. The Cowboys are not exactly strangers to the franchise tag as they tagged both DeMarcus Lawrence and Dak Prescott twice each in recent seasons, not to mention their tagging of Dez Bryant seven years ago.

The Cowboys picked up some leverage after initially tagging Schultz when he signed the deal, putting him officially under contract for the season.

Friday’s deadline came and went and Dalton Schultz will officially play the season out on the franchise tag

Again, it always seemed like the overwhelming likelihood that Schultz would be on the tag this season, especially after he signed it. But a change of heart on either side could have changed the conversation although it did not.

The deadline for players who were given the franchise tag this offseason to negotiate long-term deals with their respective teams was 4pm ET today and here we sit with no new deal in place for Dallas and Schultz. He is now locked in to the tag for the 2022 season.

Schultz will be in a contract year for the second year in a row and clearly feels comfortable gambling on himself to a degree. If he has another prosperous season, it is possible that he prices himself out of the Cowboys’ range, but they could always tag him again next offseason if they want (the value for that would be just north of $13M).

This year’s franchise tag value for tight ends is $10.9M so that is where Schultz comes in for the Cowboys. At long last this story is over. At least for now.