In looking back at what’s led up today is very interesting. First of all, Jerry said all along that until he says something specific, then don’t believe the noise you’re hearing. The media didn’t believe Jerry but it clearly was 100% true.
Truth of the matter was that it had to be a trade and the only way for Tony to move on to another team on his terms. Now its unbelievably obvious that he didn’t want to be released back in early March. If he were released then he could be fielding low ball deals where teams would give a low guarantee yet offer sizable per game dollars. In a trade, Tony had the leverage of accepting it or not. At the same time the team making the trade would have to put the dollars on the table, again, for Tony to sign off on before accepting the trade.
I do believe that Tony wanted to play but solely on his terms. Why should he accept a low ball number with teams fearing his back injuries? Had to be worth it for him to leave his family and give 100%. Was he going to take a paltry 5M or 10M guarantee when an unimpressive guy in Chicago gets 15M? As a free agent would he be offered Mike Glennon (15M) money as a base? Doubtful! Nor the high of the phenom, Kirk Cousins, who’s above Brady, Rodgers & Brees to name a few. A release would have resulted in teams having the ability to low ball Tony with the base.
What we didn’t realize was that Jerry & Tony were the only one’s in the know. They were well aware that the networks were looking for his services too. Now don’t think for a minute that Jerry wouldn’t have liked to have kept Tony as the back up here. The offer at CBS had to be substantial and with his love for golf, expect to see him at the Masters, if not this week, then in the future. It also doesn’t pit him against Troy at Fox and has the Dallas Cowboy field generals in the top slot at the two biggest networks covering the NFL.
In a game of poker, Jerry & Tony were sitting there with a Royal Flush, they were going to come out the winners. Their hope was they’d both win, team grabbing a draft pick and Tony a deal & team, he’d be happy with. The proclamation yesterday that teams could talk turkey with Tony was the last chance they had to make legitimate inquiries. Guessing none came up but certainly none that appealed to Tony. I heard Mickey Spagnolo say that when he saw Tony in the last week, that he (Romo) was in great spirits, not a care in the world. Didn’t seem to be the guy portrayed as upset with Jerry and Jason, or fellow teammates as had been alleged. He was in the cat bird seat and the decisions were all his to be made.
The Houston Texans are the huge loser! They were the one place Tony would have willingly accepted, IMO, as I’ve written before. They literally dumped Osweiller in the thoughts that they’d be getting Romo. The made it look like they were going all in, but didn’t have the stones to pull the trigger and finalize an acceptable deal. What’s hilarious is that the Texans thought they were pushing Jerry around, daring him, bluffing him to make a move. There aren’t many people who can get the better of Jerry and the Texans showed their amateur status at the table. If ever there was a team in need of an elite QB, it was the Texans. We hear the term in sports of being “one player away” and this was about as close as you could get to fulfilling that statement. They have a very good defense in Houston but they needed a QB to pull out the close games! They won’t go far with Savage & Weeden at the helm. Savage given the opportunity may develop nicely, but first year players have their struggles and whether they get into the playoffs or not, its a tough road. The Texans got royally burned on the “river”!
We’ll be hearing a lot in the coming days, but Tony was in more control of the process than many gave him credit for and his partner was HOF’er Jerry Jones!
Our congrats to Tony for a great career and all he did in his 14 years. A great way to leave and being a life long Cowboy is special too. On his watch the new stadium was built and don’t think Jerry isn’t aware and thankful. We can only conclude that Jerry did follow the “do right rule” in giving Tony the complete control of determining his future.
DT ,,,,,,,,
