NEWS FLASH:Sleeves rolled up with draft nearing…

Sleeves rolled up with draft nearing…

FRISCO, Texas – The juggling act continues here at The Star, with only a week until the commencement of the 2024 NFL Draft on April 25 in Detroit.

There is still a roster to build over the offseason, but at this moment, it is less important than preparing for the draft, for which the Cowboys are in full swing, preparing their Big Board with eight days until they go on the clock at No.24 next Thursday.

With that in mind, let Cowboys COO Stephen Jones provide some insight into how the Cowboys have been managing their salary cap a month into free agency, despite widespread criticism for not spending salary-cap money, which they, by the way, do not have in abundance.

Additionally, the NFL prohibits the usage of league credit cards.

We spend max, max money year in and year out,” Jones tried to explain earlier in the week on Cowboys radio flagship station 105.3 The Fan. “All 32 teams can only spend the same amount of money over a five-year stretch. When we’re all said and done, we max out our salary cap every year. We will have done that and what comes with having a good roster, which we do, we also are looking towards signing our own guys.

“This does not imply that it happens overnight. But when you want to sign players like Dak [Prescott], Micah [Parsons], and CeeDee [Lamb], you have to save money if you want to have a chance of signing them.”

So, if you’ve been scoring at home, the Cowboys have either lost, released, or haven’t re-signed 11 key players from last year’s roster, re-signed Jourdan Lewis, Chuma Edoga, Rico Dowdle, C.J. Goodwin, and Trent Sieg, and signed two unrestricted free agents from other teams, linebacker Eric Kendricks and veteran mostly backup running back Royce Freeman.

Nothing earth-shattering when compared to losing starters Tyron Smith, Tyler Biadasz, Tony Pollard, Johnathan Hankins, and Dorance Armstrong, then Leighton Vander Esch retiring after being released (failed physical), Michael Gallup designating a June 1 release for cap purposes, and waiting to see what happens with starting cornerback Stephon Gilmore’s rehab (shoulder surgery).

Also, there is no such thing as not being “all-in” around here because “if you’re not all-in, you’re out.”

This means that you can only take expensive “shots” during the offseason if you have adequate cap ammunition.