Dallas Cowboys' list of upcoming free agents forecasts offseason roster turnover, big paydays

The Dallas Cowboys season came to a close on Sunday night with a loss in the divisional round matchup versus San Francisco. Monday marks the first day of the offseason for Jerry Jones’ organization and considering the Cowboys’ long list of pending unrestricted free agents, it’s going to be a busy few months.

Stars like running back Tony Pollard, linebacker Leighton Vander Esch and tight end Dalton Schultz have all potentially played their last games for Dallas. There are 20 players entering unrestricted free agency in March and if the 2022 offseason was any indication, no one is safe.

Last year, Jones & Co. watched Amari Cooper, La’el Collins and Randy Gregory depart Dallas in free agency. Despite those moves, the Cowboys still made their way back to the playoffs and even went one round further.

Dallas has roughly $6 million in cap space to carry into the offseason, according to Spotrac. The NFL has not yet announced what the 2023 salary cap is but it was $208.2 million for the 2022 season. The Cowboys have five players whose cap hits next season are north of $13 million. Restructuring some of those deals, including Ezekiel Elliott‘s and Dak Prescott‘s, could help their negotiations during free agency.

The official league new year starts on March 15 at 4 p.m. ET., at which point, players can make new deals official. Contract negotiations can commence on March 13.

Here’s the list of the Cowboys’ players whose contracts expire this offseason.

Cowboys’ pending unrestricted free agents

Offense
QB Cooper Rush
RB Tony Pollard
WR Noah Brown
WR T.Y. Hilton
TE Dalton Schultz
OT Jason Peters
OL Connor McGovern

Defense
DE Dante Fowler
DE Carlos Watkins
DT Johnathan Hankins
OLB Anthony Barr
LB Leighton Vander Esch
LB Luke Gifford
CB Anthony Brown
CB Trayvon Mullen
S Donovan Wilson
CB CJ Goodwin

Special Teams
K Brett Maher
LS Jake McQuaide
LS Matt Overton

Restricted Free Agents
RB Rico Dowdle, 2023 Tender – $765,000
OT Terence Steele, 2023 Tender – $765,000