Great Report : Cowboys star announces retirement due to medical issues…..
one of the great ironies of how the Cowboys handle their contract situations. For star players who clearly deserve, and inevitably get, top-of-the-market payouts, Dallas tends to play coy, let negotiations drag on, and only resolve the issue when some kind of deadline looms—much as the team handled negotiations with quarterback Dak Prescott or wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
But for middling or injured players, guys the Cowboys could probably wait out a bit before inking to a major deal? Well, the Cowboys get ahead of the curve there, sometimes to their detriment. That was the case last year with lineman Terence Steele, who was granted a contract extension worth $82.5 million (per Spotrac) in September of 2023 despite still coming back from a torn ACL, and struggling as he did.
Steele had a rough go of things as he came back from the injury, rating a grade of 50.8 as a blocker at Pro Football Focus, which ranked him 256th out of 329 graded linemen on the season. Steele had the fourth-worst grade of any lineman with at least 1,000 snaps played in 2023
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Cowboys Make Move on OL’s Much-Maligned $82.5 Million Contract
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By Sean Deveney
Updated Sep 11, 2024 at 2:05pm
Cowboys OT Terence Steele
Getty
Cowboys OT Terence Steele
It is one of the great ironies of how the Cowboys handle their contract situations. For star players who clearly deserve, and inevitably get, top-of-the-market payouts, Dallas tends to play coy, let negotiations drag on, and only resolve the issue when some kind of deadline looms—much as the team handled negotiations with quarterback Dak Prescott or wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
But for middling or injured players, guys the Cowboys could probably wait out a bit before inking to a major deal? Well, the Cowboys get ahead of the curve there, sometimes to their detriment. That was the case last year with lineman Terence Steele, who was granted a contract extension worth $82.5 million (per Spotrac) in September of 2023 despite still coming back from a torn ACL, and struggling as he did.
Steele had a rough go of things as he came back from the injury, rating a grade of 50.8 as a blocker at Pro Football Focus, which ranked him 256th out of 329 graded linemen on the season. Steele had the fourth-worst grade of any lineman with at least 1,000 snaps played in 2023.
This week, despite all that, the Cowboys made a move on Steele’s bloated, albatross contract, converting $4.5 million in 2024 salary to a signing bonus and creating a bit more cap space in the process.
Cowboys Likely to Roll Cap Room Into 2025
That report came via ESPN’s Todd Archer, who wrote on Twitter/X: “The Cowboys have reworked the contract of right tackle Terence Steele, opening up $4.5 million in salary cap space. Add that to cap space saved on Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb contracts this year to the money that will most likely be carried over to 2025 ($20m+).”
In other words, if you’re hopeful that the Cowboys made the move on Steele as a way to bring in the likes of disgruntled Jets pass rusher Haason Reddick or possibly disgruntled receiver Davante Adams, don’t hold your breath. The Cowboys still have a contract to work out with star linebacker Micah Parsons.