Dallas Cowboys, Terence Steele agree to five year contract extension

The Dallas Cowboys have reached an agreement on a long-term extension with right tackle Terence Steele, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.

It’s a five-year, $86.8 million deal which includes $50 million guaranteed for Steele. Schefter noted the deal has a max upside of up to $91.8 million.

Steele is the latest Cowboy to receive a big money extension this offseason, joining cornerback Trevon Diggs (five years, $97 million) and right guard Zack Martin (two years, $36.85 million). Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2020 out of Texas Tech, Steele has been a mainstay on the right side of the line for three seasons, suiting up in 45 games (40 starts). Steele earned a 73.9 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in 2022, surrendering just one sack in 818 snaps.

He enters the 2023 campaign coming off an ACL injury which ended his 2022 season after 13 games. The Cowboys cleared Steele for training camp, not placing him on the physically unable to perform list.

“His work ethic and just the way he goes about it,” head coach Mike McCarthy recently said, via Sports Illustrated. “He’s always been no-nonsense, extremely coachable, very bright and he’s a glue guy. He’s really connected strongly not only in the O-line room but the locker room. Terence is a stud.”

Cowboys have more work to do after extending Terence Steele

With Steele locked up, the priority turns to extending quarterback Dak Prescott and receiver CeeDee Lamb. Prescott is signed through 2024 and carries a $59.45 million cap hit next season. While the Cowboys have expressed their desire to extend Prescott’s contract, there hasn’t been much dialogue between the two sides, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.

Even after acquiring quarterback Trey Lance from the San Francisco 49ers on Aug. 25, team owner Jerry Jones said it had no impact on contract negotiations with Prescott.

“Didn’t cross my mind, period, about an impact here regarding Dak,” Jones said. “I know that Dak wants to do anything we can do to improve this team. And we’re going to do it. The facts are that the decision to bring in as high a quality of talent as we could, that’s involving young talent… That’s something that we’ve been trying to do, just never the opportunity seems to be there. So often we’ve been trying to do what we did today with this trade almost every draft since we’ve been drafting.”