Tony Romo is very aware of just how important both Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray were to the Dallas Cowboys last season. Both playmakers helped the quarterback put together one of his best seasons of his career while the offense looked more balanced than ever. The issue is that both Bryant and Murray have expiring contracts which is leaving Romo to give his best sales pitch to Jerry Jones to retain both players.
Jones made it clear that while the Cowboys would love to keep both Murray and Bryant, it will be extremely difficult. Both players are coming off big seasons with the team and will be expecting more money in their next deal. The Cowboys are already limited enough with cap space, but Romo is hoping Dallas does everything to retain both players.
"Any time you get talented guys where you can put more than two on one side of the ball, you get three, four, if you're lucky enough to ever get five," Romo said, via The Dallas Morning News, "it's one of those things where if you can put a group like that together you can make a run and be very difficult for teams to deal with for years. I think that's what you're trying to build ultimately is to have sustained success. We have an opportunity to have that."
According to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, Bryant's contract will be a priority in terms of more money. Murray has already rejected the first offer from the Cowboys which was set to pay him $4 million annually, a low-ball offer considering the running back did lead the league in rushing yards while breaking franchise records. According to multiple reports, the running back is fully prepared to hit free agency in March and test out what other teams are willing to pay him before making a decision regarding the Cowboys.
Everything for the Cowboys will come down to money. Romo's contract hurts the team's ability to re-sign both players which could cause Dallas to try and restructure his deal once again. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Cowboys will try and convert Romo's $17 million base salary into a bonus to help his cap hit. The quarterback is a $27.7 million hit in the upcoming season. He has the highest cap hit in the league and the Cowboys are crippled because of it. The team will also look to restructure deals for Tyron Smith and potentially Brandon Carr.