If you want to restructure your contract for the 2013 season, Dallas is the place to do it.
The Cowboys announced that wide receiver Miles Austin and center Ryan Cook have both agreed to restructure their contracts. The team also announced the previously reported moves to alter the deals of linebacker/defensive end-to-be DeMarcus Ware, tight end Jason Witten and cornerback Brandon Carr, the moves are designed to drop the Cowboys under the salary cap before the start of the league year on March 12.
Austin did not take a pay cut, but did shift some of his $6.732 million base salary to a signing bonus in order to spread the cap hit out over the three years left on his deal. Like all the other restructuring around the league, it is a save now and pay later deal that will mean more salary cap squeezes in the years to come for the Cowboys.
Guards Mackenzy Bernadeau and Nate Livings were also reported to have restructured their deals, although there was no announcement by the team to that effect. Defensive tackle Jay Ratliff and cornerback Orlando Scandrick have also been talked about as candidates for altered deals, and there’s still the possibility of an extension for quarterback Tony Romo that would account for even more 2013 cap savings in Dallas.