The Cowboys or Tony Romo – Who Has the Leverage?

What the Dallas Cowboys can do with Tony Romo this offseason has a lot to do about leverage. Let’s see who has the most leverage in the Tony Romo saga…

The Dallas Cowboys are publicly undecided regarding Tony Romo’s situation. Romo, 36, has been replaced as a starter by a younger, more promising, and more durable model, Dak Prescott, 23. With a 2017 price tag of $24.7 million and starting quarterback aspirations, Romo’s future does not reside with the Cowboys.

That’s a reality most of Cowboys Nation now accepts. What happens next is where we find the disagreement.

The Cowboys have three options regarding Tony Romo:

Release Tony Romo now. Releasing Tony Romo today would result in the Cowboys eating $19.6M in dead money this season saving 5.1M from what he would otherwise be owed had he remained on the Cowboys.
Designate Tony Romo a post June 1^st cut. This would spread the dead money across the two seasons more evenly, only costing the Cowboys $10.7M and pushing the remainder into 2018.
Trade Tony Romo. This would have the same financial ramifications as option #1, but would obviously net the Cowboys something in return.

All of these options are feasible given the Cowboys salary cap flexibility so the next move likely comes down to external factors like Tony Romo and the market overall. Who has the leverage will likely determine the next move, provided Jerry Jones doesn’t let his emotions and loyalty take over, of course.

Tony Romo’s Leverage

Everyone knows Tony Romo is not going to retire and would probably rather play in the Canadian Football League than hang up his cleats entirely.

Tony Romo has a certain amount of leverage in this whole situation.

If the Cowboys trade him, the next team will need to digest his $14M base salary.

Not many teams can do that so to make it work Romo would have to renegotiate his contract.

That’s where Romo holds leverage.

If the Cowboys try to trade him to a team like the New York Jets, and he refuses to rework his contract, then he has effectively used his only bit of leverage to stop a trade. That’s pretty much where his leverage ends, though.

Everyone knows Tony Romo is not going to retire and would probably rather play in the Canadian Football League than hang up his cleats entirely. So any bluff about retirement is completely unbelievable and even if it was, the Cowboys would be no worse off than if they just cut him anyways.

The Cowboys’ Leverage

The Cowboys hold considerably more leverage in this situation since they have cap space to trade him, cut him, or even keep him. If they cut him it would either be because there was no market in which to trade a 36-year old injury-prone QB, OR because Jerry Jones came down with a case of loyalty and wanted to do right by his guy.

So while the Cowboys have considerably more leverage than Romo, they’re still at the mercy of the market (other NFL teams) if they want to trade him.

The Market’s Leverage

As stated earlier, Tony Romo is a 36-year old injury prone QB who is likely to be cut. He’s also a franchise arm capable of pushing multiple teams over the hump (Kansas City, Denver, and Houston).

Why would a team pony up draft picks and/or players in a trade if Tony Romo’s going to get cut anyway? Especially since his injury history suggests he may not even make it the entire season. Other teams hold the most leverage unless, of course, multiple teams start vying for his service.

If there is a bidding war with two or more teams, the leverage goes from the market to the Cowboys.

Consider this: If you’re Jets and you want Romo but you know if he gets cut and hits the open market he’ll sign with Denver, you become desperate to get a deal done. Because that’s the only way you’ll get him.

Compensation

The compensation involved in a Tony Romo trade would be directly related to a potential bidding war. If teams are lining up for his services, the sky is the limit. A first round pick may not be reasonable but a conditional pick tied to his health could be an option. Maybe even a high risk/ high reward player in return could be an option.

Whatever it would be, it would only happen if more than one team was interested. Otherwise everyone knows he’s going to be cut eventually. With Jimmy Garoppolo staying in New England, Romo’s value certainly sees an increase.

Next: Why the Cowboys Will Be Active in Free Agency This Year

So really, the leverage changes depending on the climate. The Cowboys have quite a bit and Tony Romo has a little as well. But the demand around the NFL will ultimately dictate who has the leverage when it all counts.

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