The Dallas Cowboys are predicted to move on from their trio of high-priced defensive tackles.
The Dallas Cowboys will enter the new league year with work to do in its accounting department. And yes, it requires more immediate work than that struggling defense does.
Current numbers display Dallas in the red for the 2026 season, though it is literally impossible for a team to operate with negative cap room; we have detailed for months how the Cowboys will maneuver their way out of this situation that some pundits call "Cap Hell" ...
With ease.
How do they do it? In large part by "flipping the switches'' on player contracts, thus lessening the cap hit on this year's newly-raised $300+ million ceiling. It's a process the Cowboys are familiar with (but too many media folks still aren't).
There will be such moves surely made on mega deals on Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. ... and in the coming, Dallas will be under the cap.
Owners Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones will oversee the moves ... and one of the focused issues will be in one room.
The Cowboys boast three above-average defensive tackles, but they come with high-priced contracts that each exceed $20 million annual value.
Osa Odighizuwa, a homegrown talent, signed a four-year extension at the beginning of last year's free agency. Quinnen Williams, the Cowboys' lone defensive Pro Bowler, joined the team already under contract for 2026 after his midseason trade. Third is Kenny Clark, who was part of the trade return for pass rusher Micah Parsons in August, along with extra first-round draft pick assets.
The Cowboys have shown no signs of moving on from this three-headed monster on the interior D-line, but some outlets don't think it's feasible - or smart - to have three of your top six earners playing the same position.
Because of this, ESPN proposes that Clark gets traded ... but aside from the minor cap relief, his mock trade means Dallas doesn't get anything in return.
Writer Bill Barnwell suggests that if the Joneses were to cut Clark anyway, maybe they could get something in return, but only offers a sixth-round draft pick - while giving up the player and a seventh.
In other words, trade a solid starter in exchange for ...
Nothing.
Clark, a three-time Pro Bowler, may be on the downward trajectory of his career, but he's still a valuable asset on the field. (Not to mention in the locker room, where's he's been long heralded as a natural leader.)
He's also one of the Cowboys that could see a contract restructure, allowing the front office to not have to worry about his weight on the cap in the first place.
In our 7 Step Process of potentially generating $100 million in available cap space, we identify that restructuring Clark's current contract (3 years, $64 million) into a new extension (albeit, for less years) could create upwards of $16 million in space.
The Cowboys could also extend his current deal through void years, pushing funds onto future books to alleviate the 2026 impact and eventually be benefitted with an inevitable cap increase in the future.
Or they could go to him and offer him a cut in pay.
Are the Cowboys married to a certain idea? Not yet.
But trading him to the Bengals (with ESPN's reasoning being that he's friendly with one of their assistant coaches)?
Why did Dallas bother trading for him if only to give him away for free?
The fact of the matter is that the Joneses can be smarter than a trade-dump in the name of "cap relief" ... when they have plenty of room generating ways of keeping him.