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 Garyinstead 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.