DMN: Sabin: How Tony Romo's contract is getting in way of QB's desire to win now

[Bluestang]

I'm so glad that SJ is saying the correct things about restrucuring the cap.

Here is the bottom line with restructuring...

It ONLY makes financial sense to restructure guys that are going to stick around for years (i.e - Tyron Smith).

If you restructure guys that you MIGHT/or WILL cut in few seasons then you are just driving up the dead money hit which hampers your spending limits in future years.

Fans forget that Dallas HAD to restructure guys just to get under the cap a couple of times and then those players started to play poorly which put Dallas in a no-win situation. There has always been this argument that Dallas was "smartly" using all of their cap but SJ comments really are telling you otherwise.

Sounds to me like he learned from those past mistakes and now they seem to be playing the long term game that includes life after Romo.

 

[viman96]

Oh the irony? There is nothing ironic here. The Cowboys and Romo's agent structured the contract. Tony signed it. All parties knew 2015 was the big salary year. In addition it is not like Tony is refusing to restructure.

 

[CowboyChris]

If we are on the hook for 27.8 million this year for Romo, what would his cap hit be the following year?

 

[Bluestang]

Here is a Tony Romo restructure scenario:

http://overthecap.com/looking-restructuring-tony-romos-contract/

The Max Restructure:

In a maximum restructure we are reducing Romo’s base salary to the absolute minimum and converting the balance, $16.03 million, to a signing bonus.

AgeYearBaseProratedNew ProratedCapDeadSavings
352015$970,000$10,773,000$3,206,000$14,949,000$45,938,000-$30,989,000
362016$8,500,000$9,135,000$3,206,000$20,841,000$31,959,000-$11,118,000
372017$14,000,000$7,500,000$3,206,000$24,706,000$19,618,000$5,088,000
382018$19,500,000$2,500,000$3,206,000$25,206,000$8,912,000$16,294,000
392019$20,500,000$0$3,206,000$23,706,000$3,206,000$20,500,000
This maximizes our savings in this year by giving Dallas over $12.8 million in additional cap space, more than enough to franchise Bryant and use their existing space for other needs. The tradeoff here is that we have now eliminated our escape route in 2017 and left ourselves with a much bigger number in 2018. A $24.7 million cap charge in 2017 for a 37 year old is extremely high even if we assume a rising salary cap. That would possibly leave Dallas in a bind again scrambling for cap room and not a lot of leeway in asking for a pay cut.

There are other options available that the writer put in the article, but this is the scenario that most folks have been pounding their chest about when restructuring Romo.

 

[therock1982]

What I find interesting is the compare and contrast of Stephen Jone's comments about it not being ideal restructuring players and pushing money into the future vs a lot of the analysis / comments here on CZ by posters I respect quite a bit re: the NFL salary cap doesn't mean anything, that the Cowboys can sign anybody they want anytime they want, and that pushing money into future year by heavily utilizing restructures is the RIGHT WAY to handle the NFL salary cap -- ie 0% loans, etc, etc.

both arguments have valid points.
Yes you can restructure and push cap hits down the road when the cap is growing but 1 thing is forgotten when that point is made-a growing cap means more players want more more money.
If we restructure romo now and free up that money what happens in 3 years time?
Romos cap hit would be around 20mill
dez would of been signed longterm for big money
we would also have trons cap hit
Crawford would be getting paid
and we would have signed both frederck and martin.
So your talking $70mill in those players.
At some point you have to take the hit.
At some point it catches up with you.
imo-take the hit whilst your still getting productivity from the player and therefore getting some value for it rather tha push it down the road and deal with it in deadmoney .
Thats what hurts.DEADMONEY.
We are paying ovr $12mill this year in dead money from previous cap mis management.
It was alot higher than that last year.
Imagine that with what we have available now?Over $20mill in space
Or in other terms the price of resigning murray and and good pass rusher ie hardy/morgan/sheard.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

How are we not winning now? 13-5 last year. We will likely be as good or better this year. Romo's offense is loaded.

Murray was not the difference between us being good or bad. And he won't be this year.

Romo went out and earned that big dollar by playing lights out despite all the injuries. He has stayed the course and actually improved his game while waiting for the team around him to first get an Oline and hopefully soon a real defense.

Sabin = Drama Queen

Never ends.

 

[Bullflop]

The premise that Romo's contract is getting in the way of HIS DESIRE to win now is false. What it's actually doing is getting in the way of the organization's ability to sign the talent necessary to win now.

 

[davey999]

So the consensus around here is that Murray is an average RB? Are we really being those fans? Unreal.

 

[Staubacher]

This should not be Romo's offense. It should be the offense that got 13-5 last year and that was everyone's offense, not just one player.

Relax. All franchise QBs can be referred to as "their" offense. Don't read too much into a phrase

 

[Toruk_Makto]

So the consensus around here is that Murray is an average RB? Are we really being those fans? Unreal.

Murray wasn't an average back. And many, including myself, did not want him back and said as much long before Murray signed in Philly.

I'm happy Murray got paid.

I'm happy the Cowboys didn't pay him.

 

[Craig]

So the consensus around here is that Murray is an average RB? Are we really being those fans? Unreal.

If thats how you're interpreting what people are saying, thats your problem, not theirs.

 

[davey999]

Thats what hurts.DEADMONEY.
We are paying ovr $12mill this year in dead money from previous cap mis management.
It was alot higher than that last year.
Imagine that with what we have available now?Over $20mill in space
Or in other terms the price of resigning murray and and good pass rusher ie hardy/morgan/sheard.

And people were arguing this point with me saying JJ hadn't totally mismanaged the cap.

It's one thing to mismanage and win, another to mismanage and be mediocre.

 

[davey999]

If thats how you're interpreting what people are saying, thats your problem, not theirs.

There isn't interpretation - many have stated that exact thing.

 

[lostar2009]

Peyton took a pay cut.Romo could have drop some mills off that 27 million to help pay for Dez and Murray. He is on his second rich contract so it would not have hurt him that bad.

 

[nablives]

So the consensus around here is that Murray is an average RB? Are we really being those fans? Unreal.

Is that the consensus around here?

I know I'm not one that thinks Murray was average. I'm also not one that wanted Dallas to give him a deal like Philly did.

 

[Hostile]

The truth is, if Dez and his agents agreed to a long term deal it would accomplish the same thing.

 

[JohnsKey19]

So the consensus around here is that Murray is an average RB? Are we really being those fans? Unreal.

Murray was a good RB in a very good system to run in. Cowboys would've re-signed him, or at least put forth a stronger effort, if they felt he is an elite RB that would be difficult to replace.

Look, Murray had a phenomenal season. One that he won't duplicate nor will an individual RB in Dallas come close to this season. However, it appears Dallas feels confident they can reach or at least come close to the total rushing numbers as a team with a different cast of RBs. That's all that matters.

 

[Plankton]

I'm pragmatic about it Jobberone -- just like there are all sorts of strategies to roster building that can be successful there are all sorts of strategies for salary cap management.

The Ravens won a Superbowl by pushing money, restructuring, etc... They had to have a mini fire-sale the offseason after they won the Superbowl and that set them back at least 1-2 years.

The Packers take the ultimate example as a "pay as a you go" approach to salary cap management where they pretty much never restructure players and they won a Superbowl.

In general I am in favor of the "Pay as you go strategy", however, with Romo potentially nearing the end of the line I wonder if the Cowboy's unique circumstances sorta point to 2015 being the best chance for the Cowboys to win the Superbowl given Romo (and Witten's) age and that restructuring might be a good strategy.

For whatever reason the Cowboys seems to be morphing into a 'Pay as you go' club'. In theory I like it but I find the timing odd.

Look at the Saints this offseason. They got themselves into so many bad contracts that they literally are giving players away. It was so bad that a promising young DT like Tyrunn Walker, who was a RFA, they couldn't even tender. I wholeheartedly applaud the front office for their new pragmatism, and it gives them a shot to compete after Romo is gone, so long as they can find/develop his successor. It gives them the financial flexibility to be able to find better supporting assets for that guy.

 

[Death Star]

Peyton took a pay cut.Romo could have drop some mills off that 27 million to help pay for Dez and Murray. He is on his second rich contract so it would not have hurt him that bad.

Peyton was a former #1 pick whose rookie contract was before the CBA lowered the rookie wage scale, and he's subsequently made a ton of money. Romo was a UDFA who didn't get a real contract until years later. And after all the times he's gotten beat up over the years, both in terms of his health and from the fanbase and media clowns... nah, doesn't owe anybody anything. It's on the front office to manage the cap, not the quarterback.

 

[nablives]

Not this crap again. Hey Tony, please take less money so other players can make top money instead...

What? That's unreasonable?