Almost immediately after the Cowboys exited the playoffs at the hands of the Green Bay Packers, speculation about the future of Dallas’ usurped starter Tony Romo began to run wild.
Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones hasn’t yet squashed any of it, if his latest comments to local media are any indication.
“There’s several cards to be played,” Jones said Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “Don’t think for one minute if you see something written or something said about what and where Romo is going to be relative to our team that there’s any credibility to it. There’s only one that can make that decision, and there’s been no decision made.”
What might force Jones’ hand is the cap ramifications should the Cowboys keep Romo. While there are no contractual obligations, such as roster bonuses, workout bonuses, etc. that would set a definitive timetable for a move, his cap hit for 2017 would be $24.7 million with a salary of $14 million. The projected cap will fall between $166 and $170 million, meaning shedding Romo would free up 15 percent of Dallas’ cap to make other moves.
Despite having been Wally Pipp’ed by potential rookie of the year Dak Prescott, and clearly not the Cowboys QB of the present or future anymore, Jones still believes he has an upper echelon QB as his backup.
“What you saw that veteran quarterback do in [Aaron] Rodgers out there, Romo is capable of doing,” Jones said. “Those are his kinds of plays. And so we’ve got a lot to think about here, but that’s in the future.”
Commence the daily speculation on where Tony Romo will be playing next season, if it already hasn’t started in earnest yet. It’s still January, so get used to it.
