Romo Contract vs. Dak Contract

Jumbo075

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In Romo's final contract, the headline was that the Cowboys were giving Romo a 6 -year contract extension for $108M, $18M per season. Combined with his 2013 salary, his total deal was 7 years, 119.5M - just over $17M per season. That same offseason, Joe Flacco signed a 6 year deal for $120.6M, $20.1M per season. Ultimately, just based on the raw averages, Romo was giving the Cowboys a 15% discount off the price of the top QB contract in the league.

But the truth is actually that over the first 4 seasons of Romo's deal, he was actually paid only $16.375M per season. He never cashed in on the final 3 years of his deal, and thus was only paid 65.5M, and he never received the last $54M of his back-loaded deal. That means the Cowboys paid Romo 18.3% less than the Ravens paid Flacco.

Compare that to today, when the top QB is making $35M per season. If the Cowboys treat Dak the same way that they treated Romo, then they would offer him a back-loaded contract for 7 years that pays him 84.93% of what Russell Wilson is making. That is a 7 year deal for $208M, an average $29.7M per season. And his first 4 seasons under that contract, Dak would make $28.5M per season.

Along comes Stephen A. Smith, who claims that Jerry would NEVER treat Romo the way he's treating Dak.



The implication is that Dak is being treated worse than Romo. But the truth is Romo was willing to take a discount to be the QB of the Cowboys, and Dak is not. It is certainly Dak's right to negotiate as hard as he can to get the best deal he can from the Cowboys. But can we please dispense with the notion that Jerry would gladly pay Romo, but refuses to pay Dak. That is simply not true. The Jones want a discount from Dak - just like they got a discount from Romo. They are treating Dak with the exact same amount of respect as they treated Romo.
 

Doomsday101

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Cap goes up as well so of course salaries will go up. 2020 salary cap will increase to between $196.8 million and $201.2 million about a 6.5% increase over 2019
 

Adreme

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Except per your own metric Flacco got a contract later that very offseason that eclipsed the Romo contract so if we are going to judge the contract by what will come later and we know that Mahomes will be getting over 40 million, and we accept this situation as a valid parallel, then shouldnt Dak be getting 36 to 37 million for when Mahomes get 40-42?
 

DallasEast

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I always think of Romo's contract every time a Prescott thread hits the Fan Zone.

Romo's contract was equally unpopular on the site.

Guess Jones always spends his money the way others do not want.
 

John813

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Except per your own metric Flacco got a contract later that very offseason that eclipsed the Romo contract so if we are going to judge the contract by what will come later and we know that Mahomes will be getting over 40 million, and we accept this situation as a valid parallel, then shouldnt Dak be getting 36 to 37 million for when Mahomes get 40-42?

Romo wasn't the highest paid in regards to AAV. Manning signed a 5 year 96 mil contract in 2012.

Wilson is the current leader for AAV at 35mil and was signed just last year.

Just because he is set to be a FA, doesn't mean he needs to be the highest paid, temporarily or not.
 

Jumbo075

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Except per your own metric Flacco got a contract later that very offseason that eclipsed the Romo contract so if we are going to judge the contract by what will come later and we know that Mahomes will be getting over 40 million, and we accept this situation as a valid parallel, then shouldnt Dak be getting 36 to 37 million for when Mahomes get 40-42?

Joe Flacco signed his contract on March 4, 2013. Romo signed his extension 25 days later, on March 29th. So your argument fails.
 

Doomsday101

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The Cowboys restructured Romo's contract in April to convert $16 million of his $17 million 2015 base salary into a signing bonus. The move freed up salary cap space for the Cowboys. Romo's $108 million contract, signed in 2013, is the biggest in the history of the franchise.

https://www.forbes.com/profile/tony-romo/#4a56fc705cee

One thing that gets left out of these contract talks is the fact that most of these contract will get restructured to free up money on the cap. Right now Dallas has the 3rd most room under the cap.
 

KJJ

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Very few wanted to sign Romo to that extension because he was coming off one of the worst games of his career against Washington in a season finale elimination game. Even some of his supporters had reached the end of their rope with him. We had just finished our third straight 8-8 season.
 

Adreme

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Romo wasn't the highest paid in regards to AAV. Manning signed a 5 year 96 mil contract in 2012.

Wilson is the current leader for AAV at 35mil and was signed just last year.

Just because he is set to be a FA, doesn't mean he needs to be the highest paid, temporarily or not.

He traded 200k for an extra year. Honestly when comparing to Peyton Manning that is a fair trade and remember when they signed that deal they were comparing him to Peyton Manning. Either way, while I do not accept the parallel, he will end up getting that money and the question is more on the lines of the details of the contract. The only way he does not get it is if he passes on it.
 

Adreme

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Joe Flacco signed his contract on March 4, 2013. Romo signed his extension 25 days later, on March 29th. So your argument fails.

Why is it my argument? I am following the metrics given because I do not remember contract details of 7 years ago and the metrics given were that Romo signed first. EIther way I do not remember well but didnt Romo have more guaranteed money or something like that in the contract that made it more appealing or was the extra year the selling point? Either way I remember there being something special about that contract to make it stand out.
 

Jumbo075

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Except per your own metric Flacco got a contract later that very offseason that eclipsed the Romo contract so if we are going to judge the contract by what will come later and we know that Mahomes will be getting over 40 million, and we accept this situation as a valid parallel, then shouldnt Dak be getting 36 to 37 million for when Mahomes get 40-42?

85% of 40M-42M is 34M-35.7M.
 

America's Cowboy

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They're not comparable because one was an elite quarterback, and the other is only Dak Prescott.
Yeah, only Dak Prescott who ended up 1 passing yard short of tying Romo's franchise single season passing record and 2 yards shy of breaking it. All with a whole 4th quarter left to play during the Cowboys last game of their 2019 season, Dak was obviously withheld (for contract purposes) from breaking Romo's record and especially from being able to pass for 5K yards (something no Cowboys QB has ever accomplished in any single season).

So, yeah, that Dak Prescott proved he could and should have become the franchise's best single season passer ever if he wasn't intentionally held back.
 

Roadtrip635

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The problem is that you're using a salary from last season. If Dak signs it will be for more than Wilson. Salaries rise every season, the range last season was $32-35, the season before it was $27-$30 and $23-$25 the season before that. Fans keep wanting to compare contracts signed in different seasons, but the reality is, that's not the way it works in the NFL.
 

eromeopolk

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In Romo's final contract, the headline was that the Cowboys were giving Romo a 6 -year contract extension for $108M, $18M per season. Combined with his 2013 salary, his total deal was 7 years, 119.5M - just over $17M per season. That same offseason, Joe Flacco signed a 6 year deal for $120.6M, $20.1M per season. Ultimately, just based on the raw averages, Romo was giving the Cowboys a 15% discount off the price of the top QB contract in the league.

But the truth is actually that over the first 4 seasons of Romo's deal, he was actually paid only $16.375M per season. He never cashed in on the final 3 years of his deal, and thus was only paid 65.5M, and he never received the last $54M of his back-loaded deal. That means the Cowboys paid Romo 18.3% less than the Ravens paid Flacco.

Compare that to today, when the top QB is making $35M per season. If the Cowboys treat Dak the same way that they treated Romo, then they would offer him a back-loaded contract for 7 years that pays him 84.93% of what Russell Wilson is making. That is a 7 year deal for $208M, an average $29.7M per season. And his first 4 seasons under that contract, Dak would make $28.5M per season.

Along comes Stephen A. Smith, who claims that Jerry would NEVER treat Romo the way he's treating Dak.



The implication is that Dak is being treated worse than Romo. But the truth is Romo was willing to take a discount to be the QB of the Cowboys, and Dak is not. It is certainly Dak's right to negotiate as hard as he can to get the best deal he can from the Cowboys. But can we please dispense with the notion that Jerry would gladly pay Romo, but refuses to pay Dak. That is simply not true. The Jones want a discount from Dak - just like they got a discount from Romo. They are treating Dak with the exact same amount of respect as they treated Romo.

This post is not factual at all.

Romo did not play out his rookie deal and actually got paid before he won the starting job. He got an extension to his rookie contract in 2006 2 year deal to 2007 collecting about $27M. Romo made more than Dak in the 4th year of his career by over $1M and he only played as starter 1 season with 0 playoff wins (that was more than 10 years ago). Stephen A Smith who I can not stand is absolutely right.

Tony Romo Estimated Career Earnings
YEAR TEAM SALARY SIGNING BONUS ROSTER BONUS WORKOUT BONUS RESTRUCTURE BONUS OPTION BONUS INCENTIVE TOTAL CASH
2003
dallas.png
$225,000 $10,000 - - - - - $235,000
2004
dallas.png
$305,000 - - - - - - $305,000
2005
dallas.png
$380,000 $300,000 $20,000 - - - - $700,000
2006
dallas.png
$900,000 $2,000,000 $280,000 - - - - $3,180,000
2007
dallas.png
$6,000,000 $11,500,000 - - - - - $17,500,000
2008
dallas.png
$605,000 - - - $5,895,000 - - $6,500,000
2009
dallas.png
$620,000 - - - $6,380,000 - - $7,000,000
2010
dallas.png
$8,500,000 - - - - - - $8,500,000
2011
dallas.png
$810,000 - - - $8,190,000 - - $9,000,000
2012
dallas.png
$825,000 - - - - $8,175,000 - $9,000,000
2013
dallas.png
$1,500,000 $25,000,000 - - - - - $26,500,000
2014
dallas.png
$1,000,000 - - - $12,500,000 - - $13,500,000
2015
dallas.png
$1,000,000 - - - $16,000,000 - $2,458 $17,002,458
2016
dallas.png
$8,500,000 - - - - - - $8,500,000
14 seasons $31,170,000 $38,810,000 $300,000 - $48,965,000 $8,175,000 $2,458 $127,422,458
 
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