DALLAS – At the NFL Combine last week in Indianapolis, Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones said that he could see the Cowboys "being aggressive" in free agency, which begins next week, and the team has "got to go this year" and can't wait on players that aren't ready.
It's a message that his quarterback, Dak Prescott, heard and is excited about.
"Heck yeah, most definitely…" Prescott said when asked if he was fired up about Jones' comments while speaking at a Children's Cancer Fund event Wednesday. "Especially when he said… no redshirts."
"We got a coach in his second year. We had some ups and downs and shined some good moments last year. This is the year that you make a big jump, and getting big time players who can help immediately is a part of that."
In order to create space to be able to spend in free agency, the Cowboys officially restructured Prescott's, as well as OL Tyler Smith's, contracts on Wednesday morning. Dallas is expected to do the same with WR CeeDee Lamb, and Jones said last week that the Cowboys are working on freeing more cap space in their defensive tackle room that features Quinnen Williams, Osa Odighizuwa and Kenny Clark, who are due a combined $64 million at present in 2026.
The sense of urgency from Jones is high, and knows that in order to capitalize on where the Cowboys are at presently, he'll need to sacrifice some elements and assets of the future in order to give his team the best chance to compete now.
"The only way to push more is for me to go borrow some of my future. Expect me to go borrow some of my future…" Jones said. "I want to do everything we possibly can to stop somebody and to basically win some third downs more than we did last year. So I think that would be the area that you would see me bust the budget."
The Cowboys can officially beginning signing free agents on March 11 at 3 p.m. ET when the new league year begins. They'll be able to agree to terms with free agents beginning on March 9 during the league's legal tampering period.
