Latest contract intel makes the Rashan Gary trade a much better move by the Dallas Cowboys
The new contract details on Rashan Gary’s contract make the Dallas Cowboys’ trade even better.
When the Dallas Cowboys agreed to trade for EDGE Rashan Gary last Monday, one fair question followed from critics of the decision: Why would they give up a draft pick for a player who was seemingly en route to being cut?
The latest news surrounding Gary’s contract upon his arrival to the Cowboys provides an answer.
Gary’s reworked contract details are a win
It’s possible the Cowboys were willing to part ways with a 2027 fourth-round pick for multiple reasons, such as making sure were the ones getting Gary and who knows, maybe another team threatened to make a deal for him, too.
But the most tangible reason to trade for Gary instead of waiting for him to hit the market was control over the financials. Had Gary been free to sign anywhere, a bidding war would have likely drove up his price. Instead, by acquiring his current contract (which no longer had guaranteed money), the Cowboys got leverage to rework his deal.
Thanks to insider Todd Archer from ESPN, we now know the details of Gary’s contract ahead of the 2026 season.
First and foremost, it’s a two-year deal worth $32 million. The new numbers mean Gary took a $6 million pay cut in exchange of $16 million guaranteed.
The most important part of his reworked deal, however, is the addition of a $13.2 million signing bonus and four void years to spread it out. This helps the Cowboys drop Gary’s previous $19.5 million cap hit all the way down to $5.4 million.
That’s $14.1 million in cap savings for 2026. You can see the full contract details in the post below (Archer clarified the post to reflect it was four void years, instead of six).
The Cowboys have room to do more
Lowering Gary’s cap hit like this is one of many moves the Cowboys can keep making to “bust the budget” like they promised earlier in the offseason. So far, it’s been a relatively quiet free agency for them considering the long list of needs they have.
The Cowboys can still reestructure DaRon Bland, Jake Ferguson, and other players’ contracts to free up even more cap space. For now, they made sure the Gary deal looked even better than it did earlier in the week.
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