Jerry Jones’ Dallas Cowboys wrapped up their 2025 campaign with a 7–9–1 record, closing the season on a sour note after a 34–17 loss to the New York Giants. With the season now in the rearview mirror, the focus naturally shifts to the offseason, and there’s no shortage of questions facing Dallas. Defensive upgrades are on the list. So is George Pickens’ looming contract extension.

But hovering over everything is one uncomfortable reality: the Cowboys are projected to be roughly $30 million over the salary cap based on their current roster construction. That’s where Cody Warren of Inside The Star enters the picture. Warren recently laid out a roadmap showing how Jones could realistically clear $100 million-plus in cap space for 2026.

According to his breakdown, nearly $90 million of that relief could come from one familiar front-office tool: contract restructures. To understand how that’s even possible, it helps to start with what a contract restructure actually is. Simply put, restructuring a deal doesn’t involve cutting a player or reducing what he earns. Instead, the team takes a portion of a player’s scheduled 2026 base salary and converts it into a signing bonus, paying it early.

From a cap standpoint, that bonus is then spread out over future seasons rather than counting all at once. The player still receives the same money, often sooner. But the team creates immediate cap relief for that year. And in Dallas’ case, Warren suggests Jones has plenty of room to maneuver. He points to seven Cowboys whose 2026 base salaries could be restructured to open up significant space.

Those players are Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Tyler Smith, Osa Odighizuwa, DaRon Bland, Jake Ferguson, and Kenny Clark. Take a look at the current base salary of these seven Cowboys players, along with an estimated 2026 cap relief Dallas could create, per Warren:

The estimated cap relief the Cowboys could create per Warren now accounts for $90 million. On top of that, Warren also noted that the Cowboys didn’t spend every available dollar during the 2025 season. That matters because any unused cap space automatically rolls over into the following year and counts the same as newly created room. As things stand, that rollover alone is projected to give Dallas an additional $22 million in cap space for 2026.

Put simply, being more than $30 million over the cap looks alarming if you only glance at the numbers on paper. But once the offseason process actually begins (contracts expire, restructures are executed, and rollover space is applied), the picture changes quickly. After all, Jerry Jones has already made it clear that an active offseason is coming.

Jerry Jones is going to have a busy offseason

The Cowboys wrapped up the 2025 season with yet another losing record. In the process, they remained the only NFC franchise that hasn’t reached a conference championship game since 2010. That context is exactly why the 2026 offseason carries real weight. For Jerry Jones, it’s shaping up to be a busy stretch. Appearing recently on 105.3 The Fan, the Cowboys’ owner and general manager made that much clear:

“It’ll be quite a busy offseason for us and this next month or so as we evaluate total team–and that’s not just coaches. That’s everything we’ve done.”

At this point, the need for a reset is hard to ignore. And it starts on the defensive side of the ball. While Dallas fielded one of the league’s more productive offenses, the same couldn’t be said for the defense. Under Matt Eberflus, that unit struggled throughout the year, especially after the Cowboys moved on from Micah Parsons. By the time the season ended with a loss to the Giants, the numbers painted a bleak picture.

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Dallas finished 30th in total yards allowed per game. They were last in passing yards allowed per game. They’re 23rd against the run, and again last in points allowed per game. So when Jones says this offseason will be busy, it’s fair to assume meaningful defensive changes are coming. And not just at the player level. The coaching staff will be part of that conversation, too.