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

[cej757]

I don't have a problem with the Cowboys not paying Murray , but Jerry and Stephen better not try to sell me on McFadden and Randle being able to match Murray's production. I'm getting the feeling Jerry thinks anybody can run behind the o-line and be successful, When I saw Detroit and Philly's D-line win their fair share of battles against the Cowboys front.

We better hit on a rb in this draft .

 

[texbumthelife]

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

And why do people still think the cap is why we let Murray go?

Wait, why did we let Murray go if it wasn't the cap? Because if there was no cap, he would be a Cowboy still. Period.

 

[viman96]

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.

Huge difference.

Most importantly Manning was asked to restructure. Romo has not.

 

[85Cowboy85]

We restructured Tyron.

And they will restructure Tony if it makes sense.

Not restructuring Tony (now) doesn't mean we no longer believe in the idea of restructuring.

Let's not be obtuse guys.

Exactly.

It would be worth restructuring if they could sign a 26 year old Ware in his prime. It's not worth restructuring to pay a running back who is coming off 370+ carries 18 million guaranteed.

 

[Nightman]

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.

Yet they were still able to take the 9m cap hit for trading Graham, took back Max Unger at 4.5m per, got a #1 pick in the process, re-signed Ingram for 16m, signed Spiller for 18m, signed Brandon Browner for 15m and got a 3rd for Kenny Stills.

Better than a couple FBs and back-up LBs

 

[DFWJC]

Sabin is right that the cap figure this year is out of whack.

It's the way he frames it that is a bit irritating.

--Romo is the 8th or 9th highest paid QB, and Wilson doesn't have his deal yet. He makes sound like he has some abnormal QB contract.
--Romo did not ask them to load the cap numbers up in 2015...they asked him if he would do it for the team.
-- Sabin also hints that because of Romo we didn't get Murray. Again, even without a Romo restructure, they could have easily signed Murray. They just didn't want to pay 8/year for the guy.

 

[Nightman]

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.

It is changing strategy in mid stream. They took their lumps using the push it forward method when the cap was stagnant.

After the lockout the cap went from 122m in 2009 to 122m in 2013. Add in the 10m cap penalty, the Austin injuries and Ratliff fiasco and that was the worst time to evaluate the method.

Now the cap has gone up 20m in two years, we are in the heart of Romo's big cap numbers and are as close to winning as we have been in decades. Now is not the time to try and copy GB and BAL. Why not wait until Romo is actually gone to change methods. That doesn't prevent them from continuing to draft well.

 

[lostar2009]

Huge difference.

Most importantly Manning was asked to restructure. Romo has not.

I agree but other qbs have done this. Heck I recall when Ware sign his contract he stated he wanted to leave money for others to be resign.

 

[lostar2009]

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.

Romo was paid at the least the rookie minimal to sit on the bench for several years which is around half million per season. So lets not play this like he is broke. He then played through his 2nd contract which was paid in full all of his guaranteed, bonus and salary money. He sign another rich contract over 100 million dollars and is slated to make 27 million this year. Now im not saying Romo should drastically drop his salary but cutting 5 or 6 million from 27 million would of not hurt his pockets.
Romo has already restructured his contract but all it really do is guaranteed more money and push it back for future years. The cowboys CAN NOT restructured Romo contract this year as this season will pay out ALOT of of his bonus money and will half his cap hit if need be but he has to be paid out in full this season.
Yes you are right it is the GM job to manage the cap but when its time to pay people the GM has to find a way to make it happen. In this case the GM couldnt make it happen so the player went elsewhere respectfully so. This is when the help should have came in. Romo is making so much this year I believe he will be the highest paid qb this season. He know the cowboys are kind of strap and could have help offer some of his pie to keep a good thing going. Im not saying Romo is wrong I just offer my 2 cents.

 

[casmith07]

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

And why do people still think the cap is why we let Murray go?

Gotta sell those page hits.

 

[Nightman]

I agree but other qbs have done this. Heck I recall when Ware sign his contract he stated he wanted to leave money for others to be resign.

Dallas intentionally wrote the contract this way because they always planned to restructure it. There are still 5 years left on Romo's deal so they can pro-rate the entire 13m restructure over the full 5 years. The base salary is 17m this year and 8.5m next year. That shows they never planned to take the full hit this year. They could have easily written the deal the other way around or split the difference at 13m each year.

They changed their minds and changed course mid-stream. They are always following trends instead of setting them. If this plan doesn't work and they switch to something else in 2 years, all this penny pinching will have been for nothing and we would have wasted Romo's last good years. It only takes one season to get out of cap trouble if it ever hits, why not wait until Romo is gone?

 

[viman96]

I agree but other qbs have done this. Heck I recall when Ware sign his contract he stated he wanted to leave money for others to be resign.

So you think it is up to Romo to demand they restructure his contract? And what makes you think Romo never made any suggestions like Ware did?

 

[burmafrd]

So you think it is up to Romo to demand they restructure his contract? And what makes you think Romo never made any suggestions like Ware did?

because that is what he WANTS to believe.

http://********.com/actually-tom-brady-is-getting-another-raise-1676198955
(by the way the idiot software on this board thinks dead spin is a cuss word)

http://www.businessinsider.com/tom-brady-contract-2014-12

that is for the brady homers

 

[CF74]

So basically there's 27.8 Million reasons why we can't sign our own guys? Nah you can divide that by half, then u got guys on the books still getting paid like Austin if I'm not mistaken, you got Carr, maybe Witten, Mo Clai all affecting it but yeah Romo's stands out the most..

We can Boo misappropriated funds, idiots can boo the players...

 

[CF74]

I think that genius Kyle Orton is still on the books also if I'm not mistaken. More bad money...

 

[perrykemp]

I think that genius Kyle Orton is still on the books also if I'm not mistaken. More bad money...

Yes, but there is less and less dead money as the Cowboys continue to be diligent cleaning their cap spend on players like Austin, Ratliff, etc.

In general I like this approach. Dead money is a boat anchor on a team's ability to compete.

 

[lostar2009]

So you think it is up to Romo to demand they restructure his contract? And what makes you think Romo never made any suggestions like Ware did?

Sure its up to Romo to demand they restructure his contract since you said it like that. But Romo could have offer to help the team. He didnt have to but he could have offer.
Also no I didnt think Romo consider others when he resign his contract. At the time it was one of the richest qb contract.

 

[DFWJC]

Romo was paid at the least the rookie minimal to sit on the bench for several years which is around half million per season. So lets not play this like he is broke. He then played through his 2nd contract which was paid in full all of his guaranteed, bonus and salary money. He sign another rich contract over 100 million dollars and is slated to make 27 million this year. Now im not saying Romo should drastically drop his salary but cutting 5 or 6 million from 27 million would of not hurt his pockets.
Romo has already restructured his contract but all it really do is guaranteed more money and push it back for future years. The cowboys CAN NOT restructured Romo contract this year as this season will pay out ALOT of of his bonus money and will half his cap hit if need be but he has to be paid out in full this season.
Yes you are right it is the GM job to manage the cap but when its time to pay people the GM has to find a way to make it happen. In this case the GM couldnt make it happen so the player went elsewhere respectfully so. This is when the help should have came in. Romo is making so much this year I believe he will be the highest paid qb this season. He know the cowboys are kind of strap and could have help offer some of his pie to keep a good thing going. Im not saying Romo is wrong I just offer my 2 cents.

Romo is not slated to make 27 million this year. Good grief.
At least get the basics right

 

[Blackspider214]

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

And why do people still think the cap is why we let Murray go?

Well Brady does it. I believe his contract is ranked 17th of the 32 starting QBs.

 

[lostar2009]

Romo is not slated to make 27 million this year. Good grief.
At least get the basics right

My bad 17 million, is that better?