Romo was never the highest paid Qb in the league and his contract actually gave plenty of cap space. He was actually the highest paid QB in Cowboys.
And Garrett actually was the OC then and it was the negotiations in Romo’s contract that actually gave Romo power and started stripping play calling away from Garrett. For example, Romo was now allowed in the EARLY team meetings to help with the game plan, while with Garrett in complete control, he was basically just running the Garrett offense. That’s why Jones called it “Peyton-like responsibilities”... Romo carries the franchise in mediocrity, while Dak walked into a golden set-up and is carried by the OL, Zeke, Cooper or Smith. If one went out, call it a day because Dak has shown how mediocre he is, without any single one of them playing.
Romo in the offense with Linehan had them a competitor for the SB.