The Dallas Cowboys have locked up another piece of their future Sunday, signing right tackle Terence Steele to a 5 year / $86.8M contract extension. The deal includes $50M in guaranteed money.
Steele’s contract can max out at $91.8M if the 26 year old is able to hit all of his incentives. His new AAV of $17.36M represents a significant pay raise from the $4.3M he’s due in 2023.
The 6’6” 320lb tackle was an undrafted free agent coming out of Texas Tech in 2020. Since then he’s suited up for 45 games with the Cowboys, 40 of which have been as a starter.
After a strong 2021 campaign, the former Red Raider suffered a torn ACL, MCL and MPL in his left knee to end his 2022 season prematurely. Despite being limited in his offseason program participation, Steele attended every day of training camp and is in line to start week 1 vs. the New York Giants.
Zack Martin, who recently agreed to a restructured deal with the Cowboys himself, was obviously thrilled about getting Steele back on the field telling reporters “When we’re at our best in the run game is when that guy is rolling. I call him The Freight Train, and I can feel it on Sunday. When he is rolling, I’m calling for those plays to get double teams because he’s got it down. He knows how to do it.”
Steele has demonstrated the versatility that teams covet along their offensive line, having filled in at left tackle for Tyron Smith when he went down due to injury back in 2021. The 3 year pro was set to become a free agent at season’s end, but will now be tied to Dallas until 2029.
Steele joins Martin, Trevon Diggs, and Malik Hooker in the ranks of Cowboys with new contracts this offseason. Next up for Dallas is determining the future of Dak Prescott, Tony Pollard, Ceedee Lamb and Micah Parsons at season’s end.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.