MARCH 11 ‘SICKENING!’Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons and Saquon Barkley are Penn State products and pals. So Micah might be happy for Barkley on a personal level.
But after seeing his own starting running back Tony Pollard make his exit for the Tennessee Titans, and then getting the news that Giants running back Barkley is staying in the NFC East to play with the Philadelphia Eagles?
“Sickening,” Parsons wrote on X with laughing emojis.
During the 2023 season, Barkley rushed for 962 yards in 14 games with six touchdowns. He also had 41 receptions for 280 yards and four touchdowns. He was coming off of a 1,300-yard season in 2022. … and on a good team? He might be the best back in football.
Pollard, by the way, is signing the three-year deal with a value of $24 million, per Adam Schefter.
MARCH 8 MONEY MOVE The Cowboys have as expected converted a portion of guard Zack Martin’s salary, thus clearing $13 million by “flipping the switch” and moving his same money to future years.
The move – which costs nothing but is simply about bookkeeping – should push Dallas toward being cap-compliant for the March 11 start of the NFL business year.
The Cowboys have long-planned this action, as they have with other moves, including a cap-helping extension for Dak Prescott, though those negotiations are seemingly in limbo at this time. (The urgency is cooled a bit by the new $255.4 million cap, a pleasant surprise to teams facing tight decisions.)
Worth noting: the Martin transaction may include the addition of a “void year” to his contract. So as always, what is “owed the cap” doesn’t go away; it just gets pushed to the future, where the piper will eventually get paid.
MAR 5 SCHULTZ SIGNED Former Dallas Cowboys tight end Dalton Schultz seemed to once again be a prime candidate for the franchise tag this offseason.
However, for the first time since his rookie deal, Schultz’s future is secured for the long term, with the former Cowboy signing a new three-year $36 million deal with the Houston Texans on Tuesday.
Schultz, who came to the Texans as a free agent last offseason from the Dallas Cowboys, signed a one-year $6.25 million deal with Houston and performed admirably, catching 59 passes on 88 targets for 635 yards and five scores in 15 games with eight starts.
He’s the second coach the Cowboys have taken from the Commanders after they hired Jeff Zgonina to be their defensive line coach. And of course, the switches back and forth are led by Dan Quinn, who had been the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator, leaving to take the Commanders head-coaching job and then bringing with him Joe Whitt Jr. and Sharrif Floyd.
