UPDATE: Thursday, 4:20 EDT by Zach Younker
It appears as if America’s Team will indeed have a QB beyond the 2013 season. Earlier reports listed Tony Romo as a likely candidate to see free agency after playing this season. Jerry Jones went ahead and put to rest any questions about who their leader is moving forward with this new extension. ESPN Insider Adam Schefter reports that the deal is $108 million over six years with over $55 million guaranteed, figures that would even make Baltimore’s Joe Flacco jealous.
Flacco has been overtaken by Romo as the richest QB in the league, that is until Aaron Rodgers and the Packers work out their deal.
In a league that is “what have you done for me lately,” NFL front office personnel certainly aren’t reflecting that sentiment with their checkbooks.
Although Flacco’s new deal came fresh off a Super Bowl win, there was no reason that Dallas had to pay a guy like Romo Super Bowl MVP money. There is no question that a deal with Romo needed to get done, but the figures don’t quite add up. For comparison players like Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning who have won two Super Bowls are making millions less on their contracts than Romo.
In a weak division, Dallas may have a chance. But Romo, who is signing his fourth contract with the team since 2003, will have to show fans and his teammates that he is worth every bit of his new contract. Expectations for a guy with just one Playoff win got even higher and an owner like Jerry Jones would not dish out that kind of coin without believing in his investment. One thing is certain, Dallas will certainly be one of the most-watched teams heading into the 2013 season.
—End of Update—
There had been many speculations as to why Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys were so dead-set on re-signing Tony Romo to an extension. That information has finally surfaced.
Aside from reducing his $16.8 million cap hit on what is a disastrous financial situation, the Cowboys are less than $250,000 under the cap, information has come to light about the team’s inability to franchise tag Romo for the 2014 season.
Romo’s contract was developed in back in 2011 to prevent the Cowboys from this exact situation. The exact language in the contract states that if tagged, Romo’s contract is voided and he can become a free agent. Even if the team were able to apply the tag, Romo’s cost would skyrocket to an astronomical figure between $26-$28 million per season, roughly 20% of the team’s payroll. This crafty loophole is the type of thing that would get a General Manager fired, if he weren’t also the owner.
Jerry Jones has no other choice to keep Romo via an extension, or let him walk in 2014. Fans and media personalities alike have been more than critical of the signal caller in Big D, which could ultimately force Jones to consider letting Romo walk.
Romo-haters seem to be salivating at the prospect of having a new player under center, but further examination of the free-agent QBs is less than ideal. Carson Palmer is an aging veteran who will probably get unhappy and demand a trade or release from the team in two years. Matt Flynn had one good meaningless victory over the Detroit Lions a little over a year ago, a game in which he threw 6 TDs. He is unproven and should be viewed in a similar light to the failed Kevin Kolb experiment in Arizona. And don’t even get me started on Vince Young, Tarvaris Jackson, Tim Tebow, etc.
Not even the NFL Draft can provide an ideal future starter for Dallas, unless Jerry Jones makes an unprecedented move to jump into the top 5 to select Geno Smith. Even then, Smith is not without his criticisms.
The bottom-line is that there are no foreseeable upgrades for the team’s current situation at quarterback. While Romo certainly hasn’t led the team to the promise-land that is the Super Bowl, he is the best option for the Cowboys going forward. Fans should worry less about finding a future QB, and more about their pedestrian defenders on the roster.
As it stands, the team re-signing Tony Romo is imminent. Unless a draft class with multiple quality starters magically appears out of thin air, there is seemingly no way to get away from the Tony Romo era in Dallas. Rather, fans should just get used to seeing good ol’ #9 under center until the day he retires…wearing the big Dallas Cowboys star in the process.
