Blogging The Boys
There are a number of Cowboys players entering contract years.
When the Cowboys decided to pick up the fifth-year option on Tyler Smith’s contract a week ago, they ensured their 2022 first-round pick would not hit unrestricted free agency in 2026.
That decision dropped the total number of players playing on expiring contracts this year to 41. But then the team went out and traded for George Pickens, who is playing on an expiring contract, bringing the total back up to 42.
All of which places the Cowboys front office in somewhat of a conundrum: extend those players now and hope to get a great performance on the cheap, or wait until those players break out before re-signing them and risk overpaying in the process?
Two of the highest-profile players among the 42 are Micah Parsons and Daron Bland. Parsons is entering the fifth and final year of his rookie contract and the expectation is he’ll sign a blockbuster extension soon; Bland is entering his fourth and final year and we haven’t heard much about a possible extension.
Other notable free agents include kicker Brandon Aubrey (whose next contract likely places him at or very close to the top of the kicking contract market) and WR Jalen Tolbert, who might be amenable to a team-friendly contract extension as the (now) projected No. 3 WR.
Those four players highlight the group of 42 players made up of 26 unrestricted free agents (UFA), 10 restricted free agents (RFA), and six players currently designated as exclusive rights free agents (ERFA) who combine for a motley crew of soon-to-be free agents:
One Golden Child: Micah Parsons, four-time Pro Bowler and soon-to-be highest-paid defensive player in the league.
Six players remaining from the 2022 draft class. Sam Williams, Jalen Tolbert, Jake Ferguson, Matt Waletzko, Daron Bland, and Damone Clark are all entering the final year of their rookie contracts. Do the Cowboys want to work out an early deal with any of them, or will they let them hit free agency first to gauge their value?
11 veterans signed to one-year deals this year. The fact that they are signed to one-yer deals makes them feel a little bit like a one-year rental army. Their 2025 performance will determine if any of them get signed to a new contract.
11 players on veteran contracts are playing out the final year of their contracts. Two of them (Israel Mukuamu and Donovan Wilson) have never played an NFL snap for a team other than the Cowboys.
8 players are former UDFAs who will all be restricted free agents. A restricted free agent is a player whose contract has expired and who has three accrued seasons of service. A RFA receives a “tender” (with a salary predetermined by the CBA) from his old team but can negotiate with any team. If the RFA receives an offer sheet from a new team, his old team can match the offer and retain him (right-of-first-refusal). If the old team does not...
