The Dallas Cowboys have shifted gears when it comes to signing their rookie class, and the results are turning heads. Gone are the days of waiting until the last minute before training camp. Now, the Cowboys are locking in their draft picks as soon as they can get their hands on them—and Friday's flurry of signings is a perfect example of this new, aggressive approach.
On Friday, the Cowboys inked six of their seven selections from the 2026 NFL draft, leaving only first-round pick Malachi Lawrence unsigned for now. The total contract value of these six deals? A staggering $56.6 million. When you add in the team's undrafted free agent class, that number balloons to roughly $90 million in total commitments. At first glance, that looks like a massive financial outlay for a team that's always keeping one eye on the salary cap. But thanks to the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the reality is far less daunting than it appears.
Under the current CBA, every draft slot comes with a predetermined signing bonus and minimum salary structure. Each team also has a "rookie pool" based on the value of their picks, which makes negotiations straightforward. Here's a breakdown of the Cowboys' newest additions and their 2026 cap hits:
• Safety Caleb Downs: $28.95 million total deal | 2026 Cap Hit: $5.26 million
• Jaishawn Barham: $6.815 million | 2026 Cap Hit: $1.24 million
• Drew Shelton: $5.575 million | 2026 Cap Hit: $1.18 million
• Devin Moore: $5.569 million | 2026 Cap Hit: $1.18 million
• LT Overton: $5.169 million | 2026 Cap Hit: $1.08 million
• Anthony Smith: $4.56 million | 2026 Cap Hit: $930,215
Here's where the cap magic happens. During the NFL offseason, teams can carry up to 90 players on their roster, but only the Top 51 highest-paid players count toward the salary cap. So, while these six rookies combine for roughly $11 million in 2026 cap hits, they only consumed an additional $4.4 million in cap space. Why? Because each new signing bumped a lower-paid player out of the Top 51, effectively replacing one salary with another. It's a savvy accounting trick that gives the Cowboys flexibility to make moves elsewhere.
As for Lawrence, the first-round pick's deal is also slotted under the CBA. He's expected to sign for around $20.5 million total, with a first-year cap hit of approximately $3.75 million. Of that, only about $2.7 million will count as new cap space for Dallas.
The Cowboys also took care of their undrafted free agents on Friday, locking in deals that slot in at lower values but could still yield hidden gems for the roster. For a team that's always looking to build depth while keeping an eye on the bottom line, this was a textbook Friday of rookie signings—big numbers on paper, but smart, efficient cap management behind the scenes.