The Dallas Cowboys and Tony Romo are getting closer to an agreement on a restructured contract. It remains to be seen if the new terms will yield success for the struggling franchise.
The 32-year-old quarterback is coming off a season in which he threw for a career-high 4,903 yards and registered 28 touchdowns, but he also tied for a league-high 19 interceptions. The Cowboys stumbled to an 8-8 season and missed the playoffs.
The real issue is that the Cowboys have almost no money to spend on free agents or for the draft in April.
Still, Jerry Jones has faith in Romo, and it’s not hard to see why, considering his yardage and touchdown stats. Of course, it’s the second two numbers that have frustrated so many Cowboys fans in the seven years that Romo has been under center.
The real issue is that the Cowboys have almost no money to spend on free agents or for the draft in April. According to reports from Clarence Hill at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Cowboys are only $102,000 under the $123 million salary cap. That is not much wiggle room.
Speaking to reporters in Phoenix on March 19, Jones said that he was confident that the two sides were close to an agreement on a restructured contract that would reduce Romo’s current cap impact from a team-high $16.8 million.
It is expected that the restructured contract would resemble Baltimore Raven quarterback Joe Flacco’s new contract of six years at $120.6 million. Flacco also just won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens and is now the highest paid quarterback in NFL history.
That might sound like a lot — and it is — but a long-term contract would allow the Cowboys to spread the money wisely to avoid this kind of cap constraint in the future, as well as give Romo added security. Well, as much security as a non-guaranteed NFL contract can give.
Jones intimated that the countdown to a new contract would be better marked in days than weeks, but negotiations are tricky animals sometimes. However, this is one case where both sides are probably trying to get this figured out pretty soon.
Tony Romo, 32, is looking for another long-term contract with the Cowboys.
