The Cowboys have the best offensive line in football and the man at the center of it all, Travis Frederick, is about to get paid. Frederick is entering the final season of his four-year rookie deal, and earlier this Spring Dallas enabled the fifth-year option for the 30th overall selection of the 2013 draft. Now, it appears the team is ready to discuss a full second contract for one of the game’s best linemen.

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said discussions currently aren’t scheduled regarding a possible contract extension, but “there’s probably a good chance we’ll be talking to Travis and his representatives if he’s open to it.” “Travis has been great for us,” Jones said. “Not only is he a great football player on the field, he represents, as (head coach) Jason (Garrett) said with most of our guys, what you want off the field. He’s a guy that we want to be around here.”

Currently, the Cowboys are only paying retail for their starting tackles. The rest of the offensive linemen are being compensated at wholesale, rookie salary prices. Frederick and third-year guard Zack Martin are both on first-round deals, while left guard La’el Collins is on a UDFA contract. The savings are plentiful, but that’s going to be changing soon.

Frederick is cheap right now. His current 2016 cap hit is just $2.1 million and ranks 19th among NFL centers. There isn’t much savings to be found there, and a new deal right now will be more about locking him in than saving cap space. Because of how proration of signing bonuses work, Dallas will like structure a new Frederick deal in a way that they will restructure his second-year salary as a second bonus, so that the projected cap hit from his current fifth-year option, $8.8 million, is lowered as well.

That 2017 cap hold is in line with the average annual salary at the top of the position. In other words, a built-in second-year restructure is really the only prudent way to approach a new deal at this point.

Here’s a look at the Cowboys positional breakdown of salaries entering 2016.

Position Group 2016 Spending NFL Rank QB $22,590,848 7 RB $9,975,105 11 WR $22,440,694 8 TE $13,690,475 8 OL $24,390,732 18 OFFENSE TOTAL $93,087,854 1 DL $16,352,560 26 LB $18,949,317 18 S $9,816,000 20 CB $24,860,031 4 DEFENSE TOTAL 69977908 19

The offensive line is coming due.

Frederick will likely command a new deal similar to that signed by Alex Mack of the Atlanta Falcons. That is, a deal at the top of the totem pole.

Mack signed a five-year, $45 million contract this offseason. Expect Frederick to average the same, but get a seven-year deal so the Cowboys have the flexibility to move around cap hits for the second and third years.

Seven years, $63.6 million with an $8 million signing bonus and the first two years fully guaranteed is the range we believe a new deal should flirt with. There will likely be an injury guarantee for the third-year. The relatively low signing bonus is so Frederick’s 2016 cap hit doesn’t move much from it’s current number of $2,185,918.

With proper restructures in 2017 and 2018, the Cowboys could keep Frederick’s cap hit under $4 million for the next three years, waiting on other large Cowboys contracts like Jason Witten’s and possibly even Tony Romo’s to come off the books.

Year Original Base Salary Restructured Base Salary Prorated Signing Bonus Restructure Bonus 1 Restructure Bonus 2 Cap Hit 2016 760,000 2,444,096 3,204,096 2017 10,000,000 1,000,000 1,600,000 1,800,000 4,400,000 2018 7,000,000 1,000,000 1,600,000 1,800,000 1,200,000 5,600,000 2019 8,000,000 8,000,000 1,600,000 1,800,000 1,200,000 12,600,000 2020 9,000,000 9,000,000 1,600,000 1,800,000 1,200,000 13,600,000 2021 10,000,000 10,000,000 1,800,000 1,200,000 13,000,000 2022 10,000,000 10,000,000 1,200,000 11,200,000 63,604,096 54,760,000 8,844,096 9,000,000 6,000,000

After being maligned as a reach pick in the 2013 draft, Frederick is having the second, third and last laughs. He has already earned two Pro Bowl nods, and is widely considered one of the best centers in the league, arguably the best. Frederick is a dominant run blocker, and has been since he first stepped foot in the league. His pass blocking has improved every year he’s been in the league to the point where he only had two penalties and didn’t surrender a single sack in 2015 after only allowing one all of the previous season.

He is now elite in all phases of the position, including the snap exchange.

In 2014, when defenses had to pick their poison against the Dallas offense, the Cowboys averaged 6.0 yards on runs to the left of Frederick – the highest average of any running hole. Those numbers dropped precipitously in 2015 when the Cowboys switched to a power scheme based on the skillset of Darren McFadden. His ability to seal off defenders on zone runs is epic, and despite his well-publicized long-speed deficiency, is one of the league’s best at the second-level. He tracks linebackers and secondary players,seeks them out and destroys them.

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Travis Frederick is a Cowboys centerpiece, and it appears the team is prepared to start setting the dinner table.