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Cowboys: Salary Cap and Roster Implications of Romo Retirement

By Reid Hanson

Jan 1, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) warms up before action against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) warms up before action against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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With Tony Romo’s retirement, the Dallas Cowboys find themselves in an unsavory roster situation and all new cap situation.

It appears the Tony Romo saga is finally coming to end. After months of speculation, Tony Romo has decided to retire from the Dallas Cowboys and begin a career in broadcasting.  According to multiple sources (specifically Todd Archer and Andrew Shefter) and reported moments ago through ESPN, Tony Romo felt the opportunity in broadcasting was too good to pass up.

The somewhat surprising retirement will bring resolution to the Cowboys, but will bring with it salary cap implications as well as a massive roster hole.

Salary Cap Implications

First of all, this isn’t your normal retirement. Tony Romo is not officially filling out paperwork today and the Dallas Cowboys are not placing their former franchise arm on their reserve retired list. No, that would be too easy.

Instead the Dallas Cowboys are going to be releasing Tony Romo later today. So they do not incur the full $24.7 million cap hit, Dallas will designate Romo as a post June 1st cut. Doing so will spread the dead money into next season and free money this season.

Tony Romo will now count $10.7 million against the cap this season and $8.9 million next season. The good news is obvious: the Dallas Cowboys get an extra $14 million in cap space this season to re-sign their current players and/or shop the free agent market. The bad news is not-so-obvious: the money doesn’t become available until AFTER June 1st. A date that’s well after the market has dried up.

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Depth Chart Implications

While it will be nice to turn the page on the Tony Romo drama, it leaves Dallas with a gaping hole on the depth chart. Kellen Moore is currently the No. 2 option in Dallas and the Cowboys are one injury to their starting quarterback away from a completely lost season.

Such a worrisome situation hasn’t been seen in these parts since…well…this time last year. If you will remember, last year the Dallas quarterback situation looked eerily similar. Tony Romo at the top, followed by Kellen Moore.

Little did we know Dallas would go on to draft arguably the best rookie quarterback of all-time. But to expect the Cowboys to draft another quarterback again this April may be far-fetched. Dallas is known to have exactly zero interest in grooming passers. And with such a plethora of needs needing to be filled via draft, they’re likely to bring in an affordable veteran free agent option instead.

Next: Dallas Cowboys: RGIII as Backup QB in Big D?

Tony Romo will retire from the game of football and leave the Dallas Cowboys in far better shape than when he received them. The Cowboys have work to do regarding their salary cap, free agent spending, and roster building. But today’s news shows progress.

Good luck, Tony. And thanks for everything.

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