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ESPN Staff Writer- Todd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010. You can follow him on Twitter at @toddarcher.
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ESPN Staff Writer- Calvin Watkins covers the Houston Rockets and the NBA for ESPN.com. He joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He's covered the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers as well as colleges, boxing and high school sports.
IRVING, Texas -- Add Jason Witten, Brandon Carr and Miles Austin to the list of contract restructures for the Dallas Cowboys.
The team announced the three players, along with center Ryan Cook and guard Nate Livings, had reworked their deals.
According to a source, the Cowboys converted $4.56 million of Witten's $5.5 million 2013 base salary into a signing bonus to save roughly $3.65 million against the cap. Carr's $14.3 million 2013 base salary was converted to a base salary of $715,000 with the difference of $13.5 million being moved to a signing bonus to lower his cap figure. When the Carr move is enacted the savings count as $10.8 million.
The Cowboys made a similar move with defensive end DeMarcus Ware on Wednesday, freeing up $4 million in space.
The Cowboys saved roughly $740,000 against the cap with Livings' restructuring, according to a source. Livings was set to make a base salary of $1.7 million this season and will now make $715,000 with the difference between the two turned into a signing bonus.
Financial details of the restructuring agreements of Austin and Cook weren't immediately known.
In addition, the Cowboys have approached the agents for Jay Ratliff and Orlando Scandrick about restructuring their deals in order to help the Cowboys get under the salary cap by March 12.
The Cowboys were projected to be roughly $20 million over the cap and needed to rework a number of deals. They could gain even more room by signing Tony Romo, who is set to count $16.8 million against the cap, to an extension.
While the moves free up cap room for the Cowboys in 2013, they increase the cap figures on those players in the future. For instance, Ware's cap numbers in 2014 and '15 are now $15.08 million and $16.5 million.
Amid the restructurings, the Cowboys also signed veteran long-snapper L.P. LaDouceur to a five-year deal, agent Gil Scott said Thursday. A source said he received a $600,000 signing bonus.
"They wanted him, and he wanted to be there," Scott said. "It's all good from that standpoint. You always wonder if you can get more in free agency. Maybe? Maybe not. When you've played in one place and want to remain a Cowboy for your career, that transcends everything else."
LaDouceur, who has been with the Cowboys since 2005, was scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent. The Cowboys and his agent met at the NFL scouting combine last week in Indianapolis.