Can The Dallas Cowboys (Amidst Cap Hell), Afford To Keep Tony Romo?
By cowgirlcas
Ok, lets be honest. I am sitting here in utter confusion as I watch the Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager, Jerry Jones, work real hard at matching the national deficit when he only has a $123 million salary cap! How does he plan to pay Tony Romo if he is dumb enough to sign a new contract?
Dec 30, 2012; Landover, MD, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) is hit by Washington Redskins linebacker Perry Riley (56) after releasing the ball during the first half at FedEX Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA Today Sports
Year after year all I ever hear is uneducated fans and the media blaming Tony Romo for the Cowboys lack of success! My question is: why do none of these talking heads of the media ever look at the center of the problem? Gosh, could it be because Jerry Jones is the chairman of the NFL Network?
The other thing I keep hearing, is what a brilliant business man Jerry is. Really? I mean really? If that is the case, maybe someone (like myself) should expose just how incompetent he is in that part of the world called football. If anything, Jerry Jones is a “SALESMAN”. Yup, he could sell an Eskimo an air conditioner in January!
Years ago, there was a guy from Utah who wrote a book titled ” How Gullable The American Public Really Is”. He reached out and hired college kids or anyone else who was willing to peddle his book door to door. It was a direct marketing project that made him a multimillionaire. The book was wrapped in cellophane so the prospective buyers couldn’t look at the contents. They had to buy it based on the spiel spun by the salesman. The poor suckers who did in fact buy the book, realized they were Class A JACKASSES! Once they purchased the book and removed the cellophane wrapper they came to the realization that they had been screwed. Every page in the book was blank, but the last one. It said in bold print: “Now You See How Gullable The American Public Really Is”! At this point, I feel like Jerry Jones was the author and we the Cowboys Nation, are the JACKASSES!
Americas Team? Ancient history! Sorry folks, that died with Tom Landry. It is now Jerry Jones’ wide world of bullshit, flash and marketing strategies. I could go in to depth and break down the drafts for the last 15 years or so, but all I would do is add to the misery of a very disgruntled fan base. Yet this same fan base keeps buying the book. Gullable?
Jerry Jones has one goal in mind. If you think it’s winning, guess again. It’s making money. For all the laymen out there, Jerry Jones is a commission based salesman first, and a football man second. Think I am full of it? If that’s the case: explain to me how a team has 1 playoff win in 17 years, but manages to not only sell out for every game, but sell more merchandise than any other team in the NFL? You guessed it folks, your buying the book.
Ok, ok, I will get to the meat and potatoes of the story. “Can The Dallas Cowboys Afford To Sign Tony Romo”? It seems virtually impossible. There are 53 players on an NFL roster. All are expected to be paid. Right? Well, because of rich people like Jerry Jones who think they can buy anything they want, they created a salary cap; it was an attempt to maintain parity in the NFL.
Feb 4, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco poses with his new corvette presented to him after a press conference at the New Orleans Convention Center the day after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
If you take in to consideration the fact that Joe Flacco just landed a $20 million a year contract, (the Ravens bought the book and the media and the uneducated fans will say “He Won A Super Bowl”)when he is nothing more than a bus driver with a career passer rating of 86.3; he hasn’t even managed to complete 60% of his passes over the last two seasons. Combine Flacco’s deal with the new Brees and Manning contracts, the average top 5 salary in the NFL will be about $18 million a year. Guess what folks, whether you like it or not: Tony Romo is currently top 5 all time! He is ahead of Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Drew Brees, Troy Aikman etc.
I know the 1st argument people will make is that Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo has never won a Super Bowl, which is why I put Dan Marino 1st on that list! Guess what folks? As I already stated, only the uneducated and the media buy that book. Scouts and general managers never evaluate a player based on the success of the team. They evaluate his individual performance. So, like Brian Billick ( a Super Bowl winning head coach, not a journalist) said, there are at least 20 NFL GM’s out there licking their chops at the thought of having Tony Romo in their backfield.
Dec 30, 2012; Landover, MD, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) is help to his feet by referee Walt Anderson during the first half against the Washington Redskins at FedEX Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA Today Sports
Don’t be naive. His agent knows this. Did Jerry Jones really think he was going to get a home town discount when he has made no effort whatsoever to protect him? When he has repeatedly thrown Romo under the bus and made the QB the fall guy for his own incompetence as a GM? Whether or not fans agree, Tony Romo will command somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million a year. Why? Because NFL GM’s see that he is a top 5 all time quarterback and has done that while running for his life. They are thinking hmmm, if he can perform like that with a sub-par offensive line and no running game: what could he do for me with a good OL and a running game? Yup, that’s the book the smart people will buy. What about you? You can rant and rave, pound your fists on the table, or kick the cat, but Tony Romo is going to get paid.
The Question is: How is Jerry Jones going to afford him?
Spotrac has proven to be a very reliable source for keeping track of the NFL salary cap standings. As most of you know, the Dallas Cowboys salesman Jerry Jones had them the 2nd highest in the NFL. I have included part of the Cowboys salaries to show you just how bad off they really are. Keep in mind, this doesn’t show the remaining $5 million of the $10 million dollar cap penalty imposed by the NFL last year. If you want to see the entire mess Click Here. I have only illustrated the top 10 highest dead money players on the roster.
| Player | Pos. | Base Salary | Signing Bonus | Other Bonus | Dead Money | Cap Figure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Romo | QB | 11,500,000 | – | 5,318,833 | (13,499,835) | 16,818,833 |
| Anthony Spencer | LB | 10,627,200 | – | – | (10,627,200) | 10,627,200 |
| Doug Free | T | 7,000,000 | 2,060,000 | 960,000 | (10,020,000) | 10,020,000 |
| DeMarcus Ware | LB | 840,000 | 4,000,000 | 3,253,750 | (17,165,251) | 8,093,750 |
| Brandon Carr | CB | 715,000 | 2,000,000 | 2,717,000 | (22,300,000) | 5,432,000 |
| Jason Witten | TE | 940,000 | 2,500,000 | 912,000 | (7,500,000) | 4,352,000 |
| Jay Ratliff | DT | 1,340,000 | 2,000,000 | 732,000 | (10,000,000) | 4,072,000 |
| Morris Claiborne | CB | 1,129,296 | 2,567,182 | – | (13,307,320) | 3,696,478 |
| Miles Austin | WR | 840,000 | – | 2,748,400 | (10,602,000) | 3,588,400 |
| Tyron Smith | T | 1,511,009 | 1,897,018 | – | (7,384,058) | 3,408,027 |
Aug 25, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) throws in the pocket as tackle Tyron Smith (77) blocks against St Louis Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers (90) at Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Scary isn’t it? That’s over $110 million in dead money for just 10 of 53 players. The sad part is, Tyron Smith is under a rookie contract, was only drafted 2 years ago and already counts as almost $7.5 million in dead money against the future salary cap. What is worse is the fact that Brandon Carr was only signed in 2012 and already counts almost $22.5 million against the future salary cap. Still think Jerry Jones is a good business man? Are you going to buy a second copy of that book he is selling? Now lets take a look at the top 10 highest salaries for 2014.
| Player | Pos. | Base Salary | Signing Bonus | Other Bonus | Dead Money | Cap Figure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeMarcus Ware | LB | 12,250,000 | – | 3,753,750 | (8,776,834) | 16,003,750 |
| Brandon Carr | CB | 7,500,000 | 2,000,000 | 2,717,000 | – | 12,217,000 |
| Doug Free | T | 8,000,000 | 2,060,000 | 960,000 | – | 11,020,000 |
| Jason Witten | TE | 5,000,000 | 2,500,000 | 912,000 | – | 8,412,000 |
| Miles Austin | WR | 5,500,000 | – | 2,748,400 | (7,853,600) | 8,248,400 |
| Jay Ratliff | DT | 5,500,000 | 2,000,000 | 732,000 | – | 8,232,000 |
| Orlando Scandrick | CB | 3,500,000 | 600,000 | 1,501,250 | – | 5,601,250 |
| Morris Claiborne | CB | 1,868,591 | 2,567,182 | – | – | 4,435,773 |
| Nate Livings | G | 3,400,000 | 700,000 | 221,250 | – | 4,321,250 |
| Kyle Orton | QB | 3,250,000 | 1,000,000 | – | – | 4,250,000 |
As you can see, without a Tony Romo or Anthony Spencer contract, only 10 players count, $71,741,423 against the estimated $123,000,000 cap. You can draw your own conclusions, but my question is: “Can The Dallas Cowboys Really Afford To Keep Tony Romo”? Sorry, but this writer isn’t buying the book.