The standoff between the Dallas Cowboys and Tony Romo doesn’t look like it’s going to end anytime soon.
During an interview at the NFL’s annual owners meeting Tuesday, Jerry Jones didn’t sound like he was in a hurry to make a decision on Romo’s future. As a matter of fact, it was actually the opposite: Jones sounded like a guy who was going to take all the time he needed.
So how much longer will everyone be waiting before we find out what’s in store for Romo? How about four months?
Jerry Jones says deadline on Tony Romo decision is training camp. Says they've spoken in last couple days. He's doing great, has options
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 28, 2017
That’s right, Jones has given himself a personal deadline of training camp, which means Romo’s future could be in limbo until the end of July, which is four months away.
For the Cowboys, the decision to wait makes a lot of sense. For one, if the team decides to cut him, they can split up his cap hit over two seasons if they wait until after June 1 to make the move. If the Cowboys released him now, he would cost $19.6 million in dead cap money. If the Cowboys make the move after June 1, Romo would count $10.7 million toward the 2017 cap and $8.9 million toward the 2018 cap, according to ESPN.com.
The Cowboys could cut Romo now and designate him a post-June 1 release, but they’d still have to wait until June 1 to get the extra savings under the cap. Basically, Jones is no hurry to get anything done.
“There’s no waiting game,” Jones said, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “This is the offseason. We’re not missing doing anything. From the standpoint of the franchise and the Cowboys, nothing is being held up here at all. We don’t have anything imminent that’s pushing us.”
According to Jones, Romo hasn’t been pushing for his release because he’s trying to figure out what he wants to do with his future: keep playing, or retire and move up to the broadcast booth.
“There is kind of a menu of several alternatives that Tony has,” Jones said. “In that sense, he has, as much as we look at this as an important time for Tony, he’s got some great options.”
As for reports that Romo is unhappy about the fact that he hasn’t been cut -- the Cowboys were expected to release him on March 9 -- Jones said that’s all hogwash.
“I’m completely satisfied with how he’s doing and I have no reason to believe he’s not satisfied with how I’m doing,” Jones said. “I feel good about how we’re doing. We’re being the Cowboys, me and Tony. I feel very good about it.”
Of course, Jones’ ultimate plan might be to hold on to Romo until the Texans start their offseason practices and realize how bad their quarterback situation is. At that point, Houston might actually be willing to make a trade offer for Romo, something they haven’t done yet.