The Dallas Cowboys are once again paying for the contract they gave Tony Romo back in 2013. The quarterback became an extremely high salary cap hit after that deal was finalized which has been a burden for the Cowboys, hurting their chances at being flexible in free agency. The contract cost the team DeMarco Murray and is hurting negotiations with Dez Bryant which left Dallas no choice by the restructure the deal.
According to ESPN's Todd Archer, the Cowboys officially restructured Romo's contract once again which converted $16 million of his $17 million salary into a signing bonus. The move lowers his original cap hit of $27 million to just $14 million, giving the Cowboys $12.8 million in additional space. Romo hinted that this was an option. He stressed his willingness to make the move after making it clear that he wanted to do whatever was possible to keep Murray on the roster. This restructured deal comes just too late.
"I'll probably do the restructure here shortly," Romo said, via "Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio". "As far as the pay cut, I mean, I don't think that's a big deal if they ever come ask me for that."
The additional cap space created from Romo's new contract could be used in multiple ways. The Cowboys could use it to get Bryant signed to a new contract. The wide receiver was forced into a franchise tag after negotiations stalled out between he and the team. Bryant wants a new contract before entering the season as a hold out remains an option.
However, could the move have been made to help acquire Adrian Peterson in a trade? Owner Jerry Jones hinted to the Dallas Morning News that Peterson had not been ruled out as an option, but he was not going to discuss the matter further. The Cowboys have not been able to make the deal for Peterson happen simply because they lacked the cap space to take his contract on, but now that might not be the case.
According to Spotrac.com, the Cowboys have the space to take on the $15.4 million hit that Peterson comes with. They could easily strike a trade with the Minnesota Vikings and then restructure Peterson's contract after he arrives. The addition of the running back would be a huge help to the offense. Right now Dallas is banking on Darren McFadden rediscovering his college days as they have yet to truly fill the shoes of Murray. Peterson would be that player that would stabilize the offense once again.
