When the Bills Come Due — in Dallas and College Football | Just Wondering with Norm Hitzges

It's Friday, January 28th, and today I'm just wondering about another salary-capped situation
for the Cowboys and making a career out of playing college football.
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The projected cap in the National Football League for the coming 2020-26 season is a little over 300 million.
That's to pay all your players.
Right now the Cowboys are $30 million over that cap.
And that's not counting what they may want to pay George Pickens or Giovante Williams or Brandon Aubrey to stay.
And they want them all to stay.
And by the way I should note that with all those players, the Cowboys were $79.1 last year.
What this doesn't address also is other free agents they might want to keep.
Jadavian Clowney, Dante Fowler, Sam Williams.
Okay, so what are the Cowboys do? Where do they get the money?
Well, they rob Peter to pay Paul.
They take current players' contracts, reduce their cap income this year,
but move a lot of money down the line to put further weight on salary caps in years to come and not far down the road in years to come.
Okay, so where else can you get money?
Well, you can cut contracts.
You can cut right tackle, tear and steal.
And linebacker Logan Wilson.
I think it's gone.
And why'd we see Virginia and Mingle?
I don't know why he ever got here.
But that will save you just rounding off.
I think around $22 million worth of cap room.
Of course, when you do that, you don't have a starting right tackle.
Which brings us to a salary cap situation.
The Cowboys really need to address.
Last year in the Micah Parsons trade, they said that they had to have defensive tackle Kenny Clark in the deal.
And then later, they traded for another defensive tackle, Quinn Williams.
Clark's contract calls for him to jump from $2 million last year to $21 million this year.
That simply can't happen.
Why?
Because if you agree to that contract with Clark, that would mean the tackles.
Also, Diggy Zua, Quentin Williams and Kenny Clark are costing the Cowboys $64 million.
$64 million at just defensive tackle.
But then if the Cowboys let Clark go to save all that cap money,
imagine the criticism, Jerry and the front office would get because they told us they had to have Kenny Clark.
Had to have him in the deal for Micah Parsons.
So, the question is, how much can they cut Kenny Clark?
Would he take $10 million a year?
Would he take $10 million a year for two years, totally guaranteed?
$12 million a year for two years, totally guaranteed?
I don't know if Clark will buy that.
And that's up to Clark and his agent.
But I don't think the Cowboys can tolerate Kenny Clark being in $21 million this year.
And that brings us to the way the Dallas Cowboys do salary cap business.
At this point, for the 2026 season, these nine players,
Cadac Prescott, Sydney Lamb, Tyler Smith, Quentin Williams, Kenny Clark,
Osao O'Diggy Zua, Terence Steel, Daran Bland and Jake Ferguson.
Those nine players count $259 to $59 million toward a $300 million cap.
Let's go back to those three free agents you want to keep.
Pickens, Brandon Aubrey, Javante Williams.
They're going to cost about $40 million between the three of them.
That would take you to $299 million for 12 players and the cap is $300 million.
That's where we get into it. You've got to reduce Clark.
You've got to cut these people. You've got to do all these things.
Now, the rule is you've got to be under the salary cap by March 11th in the afternoon of March 11th this year.
Why? Because that date, March 11th, is the date where players can start signing free agent contracts.
So you get below the figure by that date, then you can jump over,
but you've got to get below it by that date, which means you're probably redoing
that and lamb and Tyler Smith and maybe O'Diggy Zua all by then.
And you're pushing money down the road.
Let's give an example of two examples of what happens when you do that.
The Cowboys signed Dak Prescott two years ago to a four year, $60 million a year contract.
But last year to create salary cap space, they redid his contract and pushed money forward.
Forward to the point where Dak now, this year and the following two years,
counts $74 million against the cap.
They did this with Zach Martin, the star guard, and when Zach Martin retired,
the Cowboys still had to carry $16 million a year for two years on their cap
because of the money they'd pushed forward redoing Zach Martin.
Imagine what they'll have to carry for Dak contract a few retires.
But redoing these players is easy.
You know what's not easy?
Dealing with it two or three years down the road.
The Cowboys this year say they'll bust the budget to keep everything together.
To make a big run, a big run to win the Super Bowl.
Will that make this a Super Bowl team?
I've some pretty grave doubts about that.
But then that's the way the Cowboys have been doing business now for decades and decades.
Next, making a career out of playing college football.
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Fantastic personal service, a cheery, welcoming, spotless atmosphere,
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Two locations of Bob's steak and chop-ups.
The original Bob's on Lemon Avenue and the gorgeous new Bob's at Craig Ranch McKinney.
My wife marries the co-creator of Full Moon Healing Bomb.
And I guess I'm the reason this terrific cream was developed.
A few years ago, I began getting these huge ugly blood blotches just beneath the skin of my arms and hands.
The conditions called senile purpora.
And no, you don't have to be senile to experience this embarrassment.
It happens as you age.
And then to cover it up, we begin wearing long sleeves even when it's hot.
It took two years working with a New Jersey lab to refine the all natural ingredients of Full Moon Healing.
Gently massage a very small amount into the skin.
And within a day, the blotches begin to fade.
Senile purpora usually takes weeks to disappear.
But this bomb cuts the timeline to about a week.
And ordering so easy.
Just go to the website fullmoonhealingco.com.
Over the last few months, we've been telling you at length about college football's bizarre notes
and they're out of control rules and trends.
Now, we've got a new one, a fun one.
You know, you used to have four years of eligibility in college football plus a red shirt here.
And then just five years.
But now, solid Miami of Florida linebacker, Muhammad Tourette, good player.
They're leading tackler on a team that played for the college championship this year.
He's announced he will return to Miami of Florida for his eighth college football season.
That's eight.
He'll be 25 years old next year and still playing college football.
He 25 years old, eight years in college.
He should be close to his doctorate.
He started out playing three years at Rutgers.
Then he torn ACL in spring practice in 2022 and was granted that medical richer year.
He came back in 2023 and was an honorable mention of Big Ten player.
Then in 2024, he tore the same ACL.
And in 2025, he transferred to Miami.
He played three seasons at Rutgers, had a richer year Rutgers.
Everybody got that 2020 year for COVID.
Then he had two injured years.
And now Miami is going to be there for his second season.
Why didn't he turn pro if he's just going to play?
Those multiple ACL injuries worried the NFL a lot.
And turning 25 next year would make him an old recruit.
So what would he get?
Mid-draft pick at best.
Hey, under the NIL, he's better off going back to Miami.
He'll make more money than he'd make in the NFL the next year.
Maybe even the next two years.
But that's what we got now in college football.
It's getting to point where some players can almost make a career out of just playing college football.
And now a word from our title sponsor.
Today's episode has been brought to you by Fluent Financial.
Retire earlier, live better.
And by Bob's steak and chop house on Lemon and Dallas and in Craig Ranch in McKinney.
Bob's a Dallas tradition for more than 30 years.
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Thanks for listening to today's episode of Just Wondering.
I'm Norm Hitzkes, and know that every day I'll be just wondering about something.
And I'm Mary Hitzkes, and I'll just be wondering too.
This is a stolen water media production.