1 Playoff win = $108 Million

[News Bot]

Romo, Cowboys agree to 6-year deal worth $108 million

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-on-football/21970168/romo-cowboys-agree-to-6-year-deal-worth-108-million" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-o ... 08-million</a>

The Cowboys and quarterback Tony Romo have agreed on a six-year contract extension worth $108 million per year, CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman and CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora confirm.

As La Canfora points out, this actually means Romo will be in Dallas for the next seven years, because he had one more season worth $11.5 million remaining on his current contract.

ESPN Dallas' Todd Archer was the first to report that the extension was imminent, and ESPN's Adam Schefter wrote that the deal was worth $108 million.

"Tony has a special relationship with Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones and this allows him to be a Cowboy for life," Romo's agent, R.J. Gonser, told La Canfora. "It's a very special place for him and Tony was focused on remaining a Cowboy and helping the Cowboys win games."

According to Pro Football Talk, the Cowboys, as of Thursday, were only $51,000 under the salary cap, and with the team wanting to get a long-term deal done with the franchise-tagged linebacker Anthony Spencer (which also would probably free up cap space for 2013), the team needed the cash.

Predictably, Twitter exploded (gleefully, I might add) at the news, and much of the derision was pointed toward Romo and Jerry Jones in that the Cowboys just gave more than $100 million to a quarterback who's won a single playoff game and handcuffed themselves for another seven years. And probably because it's a higher guarantee than what Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco just received ($52 million).

In reality, though, Romo is still probably a top-10 quarterback in this league. Thing is, his failures have happened with plenty of attention on his team and late in games and late in seasons. Oftentimes, to point all the blame at Romo is blatantly unfair.

Of course, if you're making more than $100 million over the course of your contract, anything less than a Super Bowl will be rule a failiure. And at this point, it doesn't seem as if Dallas is particularly close to one of those.

 

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[Angry Ram]

I'm in the minority but I think Tony Romo is a good QB. A lot of the playoff losses aren't his fault, it's his defenses. I also think he's matured after the Cabo deal.

Goes about the norm for QBs these days now. Dallas had to do this so they wouldn't be screwed in dead money next year or be good enough to miss out on the top QBs next year.

 

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I'm in the minority but I think Tony Romo is a good QB. A lot of the playoff losses aren't his fault, it's his defenses. I also think he's matured after the Cabo deal.

Goes about the norm for QBs these days now. Dallas had to do this so they wouldn't be screwed in dead money next year or be good enough to miss out on the top QBs next year.

Yep. It's just a commentary on the premium for good QBs in this league. That's all.

 

[CGI_Ram]

You can win with Tony Romo.

And... I agree it's the team around him, particularly on defense that has faltered in the playoffs.

But that is WAY too steep for a guy that is turning 33 in April! Do they really think he plays to 40? I'd like to see how this deal is broke down. No way he plays that contract out!

I am shocked, right now.

 

[libertadrocks]

You can win with Tony Romo.

And... I agree it's the team around him, particularly on defense that has faltered in the playoffs.

But that is WAY too steep for a guy that is turning 33 in April! Do they really think he plays to 40? I'd like to see how this deal is broke down. No way he plays that contract out!

I am shocked, right now.

+1. I think Romo is a very good QB. Most of the flak he catches is because of the star on his helmet, not his poor play.

The contract is crazy tho. No way I pay him that much. Especially considering his age.

 

[LesBaker]

I'm in the minority but I think Tony Romo is a good QB. A lot of the playoff losses aren't his fault, it's his defenses. I also think he's matured after the Cabo deal.

Goes about the norm for QBs these days now. Dallas had to do this so they wouldn't be screwed in dead money next year or be good enough to miss out on the top QBs next year.

I'm with you I think he is a very good QB.....in fact if the Cowboys and Rams traded QBs I'd be happy. He's has a lot working against him starting at the very top.

 

[MTRamsFan]

Good quarterback with a total jackass as an owner.

I met Jerry Jones back in '94. My father was working for billionaire Dennis Washington who was hosting a seminar where high school seniors get the opportunity to meet and talk with successful athletes, business owners, CEOs, etc. I was shuttling these people back and forth from the local airport to the resort where the seminar was being held. Jones was a guest speaker at the seminar and my father introduced him to me. All I can remember was Jones extending his hand to shake mine and acted like he wanted me to kiss his Super Bowl ring. I thought he was a total pompous and arrogant asshole. I see him as one of the biggest reasons, if not the biggest reason, the cowgirls couldn't win the super bowl these past years. IMO, he has too much involvement in the coaching aspect. I get it that it's his money and all, but let your coaches coach, your players play, management run the organization, and you just spend the money. Isn't that what an owner is supposed to do? :sly:

 

[Young Ram]

LOL AT THE LOLBOYS!

Romo is a good QB in the regular season but when the pressure is on to win he chokes! Until he proves otherwise, I will be LOLing hard on some of my cowboy coworkers and friends.

 

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Uhmmmmm.

Yeah.

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[brokeu91]

That's just Jerruh being Jerruh

I'm so glad that our owner does not do that stuff. Cowboy fans really have no choice but eat it. As long as Jerruh is alive he will be GM of the Cowboys, and as long as Jerruh is GM of the Cowboys they will remain at best mediocre. I would truly hate being a Cowboys fan right now.

 

[ramsince62]

LOL AT THE LOLBOYS!

Romo is a good QB in the regular season but when the pressure is on to win he chokes! Until he proves otherwise, I will be LOLing hard on some of my cowboy coworkers and friends.

Damn, you took the words right out of my mouth.

Exactly as you stated, he's v.good week 1 to 17. However, he's 1-3 in playoffs and seems to make mistakes at critical moments trying to force things, either that or his brain seizes up, I don't know which.

Personally, I was amazed by the deal, that's a lot of money for a QB on the shady side of his career with 1 playoff win to show for it, but what do I know? :boing:

 

[moklerman]

I'd like to see Romo get to the playoffs with a healthy supporting cast on offense and a defense that wasn't a joke.

He's made some mistakes but he isn't the problem in Dallas.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Ouch!

Can't say I disagree. This guy flames Jerry Jones. I still can't get over the fact that Romo got this extension, for 7 years, at 33yrs old... and let's face it Romo might be good but that contract is bad.

<a class="postlink" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--tony-romo-latest-cowboy-to-cash-in-big-time-without-delivering-great-results-013440103.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--tony- ... 40103.html</a>

Sesame Street is not normally a place you would go for high-level football analysis, but occasionally even The Count can help decipher good cap management from bad.

With that in mind, here's a list of NFL quarterbacks who have received contract extensions that included at least $48 million paid over the first three years (as noted by NFL.com's Albert Breer shortly after Romo's six-year, $108 million deal was announced). The three-year total is important because most contracts are relatively easy for a team to get out of after that time:

• Tom Brady: $48.5 million in 2010
• Eli Manning: $49 million in 2009
• Peyton Manning: $58 million in 2012
• Drew Brees: $61 million in 2012
• Joe Flacco: $62 million in 2013
• Tony Romo: $57 million in 2013

To borrow a line from the folks at the children's TV show, one of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn't belong.

Yeah, that's Romo, who unlike the other five guys on that list has yet to win a Super Bowl (let alone two for Eli and three for Brady). Heck, as former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb noted via Twitter, Romo has only one won playoff game.

Now, don't take this the wrong way: business is business. Romo, who has high-powered agents Tom Condon and Ben Dogra working for him, deserves whatever he can get. He also had plenty of leverage based on the fact that he could void his contract after this season and not be franchised by Dallas.

The real problem in all of this is how the Cowboys continue to do business. Dallas continues to pay its players and manage its team as if it has actually accomplished something. This is a team with an array of reported bloated contracts, from offensive tackle Doug Free (four years, $32 million) to defensive tackle Jay Ratliff (five years, $40 million) to wide receiver Miles Austin (six years, $54 million) to cornerback Brandon Carr (five years, $50 million) to defensive end/linebacker Anthony Spencer, who is being paid $10.6 million for one year on the franchise tag.

Like Romo, the Cowboys have given Spencer a lot of leverage if they want to get his salary cap number down with a long-term contract.

Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones has given too many people on his roster way too much comfort, way too much artificial belief that they are actually great when they are anything but.

Yes, Dallas has the makings of a good team and Romo is perfectly capable of leading this team to a Super Bowl title. Talent is not the issue. Mindset is the problem. Former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson said it best last season when he blasted the team's country club-type atmosphere.

In the aftermath of that remark, Jones promised change. He promised that he was going to make people uncomfortable. He fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and even let head coach Jason Garrett twist in the wind a bit.

But less than three months after another disappointing season, Jones rewarded his top player with one of the richest deals in the history of the league. The same quarterback who once posed on a lounge chair in Los Cabos during the bye week before the playoffs now has Jones figuratively bringing him drinks poolside.

More ice, Mr. Romo?

This is why the Cowboys are mentally weak, a team incapable of living up to its talent. This is why Jones doesn't get it when people point out that he shouldn't be the GM. It's not because he's so bad at it. In fact, the talent level of the Cowboys is pretty good and the drafting has been OK lately.

The problem is that there's no checks-and-balance system with the Cowboys. The same guy who's writing the checks to make players feel good about themselves is the same guy who's balancing the books to make sure the results add up.

Worse, there's no second person to be bad cop to Jones' good cop routine. Jones is becoming a latter-day Al Davis, a guy who loved his players and simply changed the coach when things didn't go right.

There's nobody in the organization to look at the players and say, "This isn't good enough." There's no one to tell Jones, "No, we don't pay players like this until they actually win."

No, there's just a lot of money flowing around to a lot of satisfied players.