Given Tony Romo’s $24 million salary cap charge in 2017 and his status as a backup quarterback in Dallas cemented, it is increasingly likely that the 36-year-old will not play for the Cowboys next season.
The question, then, is what makes the most sense for Dallas: Should it release its former starter and allow him to find a new home on his own, or should it try to find a home for him via trade?
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No matter what happens, there is no good solution for the Cowboys' salary cap, as the cost of releasing or trading Romo is a gigantic cap charge of $19.6 million.
But Dallas’ decision may impact the way it applies its cap in 2017.
The benefits of releasing Tony Romo
There are two ways in which releasing Romo makes more sense. One is the immediate cap relief the team would realize if Romo was processed as a normal release. He is currently slated to count $24.7 million against the Cowboys’ cap, and the team will be about $10 million over the projected cap next year if Romo is on the roster. All teams must comply with the salary cap on the eve of the first day of free agency, and Dallas would be able to free up $5.1 million as early as February by cutting Romo before free agency begins.
Such immediate cap relief would not be possible with a trade, which can’t be processed until the first day of the new league year … at which point the Cowboys already would have needed to be salary cap compliant. That means they would need to have restructured contracts to make up that $5.1 million Romo would have saved them, which can create future salary cap headaches.
The second scenario would have Dallas designate Romo a June 1 cut. It would open up a large amount of cap space — $14 million on June 2 — and then defer $8.9 million of cap charges to 2018. Dallas then would be afforded the operating budget required to sign their draft picks, fund their practice squad and regular-season roster expansions and have money remaining for contract extensions.
Trades can’t be processed under the June 1 rules unless the trade is executed after June 1, which would not make sense for a team looking to acquire Romo. Offseason programs begin around April, and teams generally want their starting QBs in their workout programs by then; certainly no later than the draft.
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The benefits of trading Tony Romo
While trading Romo would not give Dallas immediate cap relief, it would accomplish two important things: getting a draft pick and controlling where Romo lands.
Nothing reflects worse on a team than having to cut a high-priced player and receiving nothing in return … especially if that player can still play. If Romo were to have a good season elsewhere while Dallas kept a large cap charge for him, the organization would be raked over the coals by media and fans.
And it is possible a player like Romo — if he has a successful season elsewhere — could return a second-round draft pick, which is a decent consolation prize.
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By trading Romo, the Cowboys also would prevent him from potentially playing in their own division or conference, thus limiting interactions in the future.
For example, back in 2008, the Packers wanted to move on from Brett Favre, but under no circumstance did they want to see him on a team in their division. They traded Favre to the Jets with stipulations that prevented New York from trading him to teams like Chicago and Minnesota.
On the other hand, the entrance of Favre in New York forced the Jets to release starter Chad Pennington, who immediately signed with the division-rival Dolphins. Pennington and Miami went on to win the division that year, thanks in part to a week 17 win in New York. It was the ultimate embarrassment for the Jets.
Though it’s unlikely the Eagles, Redskins or Giants would sign Romo, the Cowboys should prefer to steer him in a direction that impacts them the least.
What should Dallas do?
Regardless of Dallas’ loyalty to Romo and desire to make things right for him by granting him a full release, the Cowboys need to explore every trade opportunity first. It’s not uncommon in sports for a player and team to mutually select a list of teams acceptable for both sides.
That might be the best-case scenario for Dallas.
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It’s entirely possible that no team will want to trade for Romo at his $14 million salary. Romo basically has not played football for the last two years, and he has only been credited with more than eight wins once in the last seven seasons. He will be 37 in 2017 and has battled a number of recent injuries.
So Dallas may very well find out by the end of the Combine there is a limited market for Romo. At that point, the Cowboys should release him and let him negotiate a new contract.
But the Cowboys owe it to themselves to try to get a maximum return.