Cowboys Blog Official

How Much is Romo Worth?

I'm revisiting an article I wrote-up back in February, which discussed recent quarterback contracts in relation to what we could expect in a new deal for Romo, which could be right around the corner. The DMN has a new article quoting Romo in regards to this subject:

"I'd definitely like it before the season began, but you never know how these things go," he said. "I know the Jones family. They know me. We'll come to a conclusion."

Last August, Romo signed a 1 Year, $3.9 million contract extension, which pays out $900,000 for ‘06, $1 million for ‘07 and a $2 million signing bonus. This locks him up through the 2007 season, but what happens after that? Let's not get to that point, there's already talk that getting Romo a new contract is in the works, and rightfully so. I would believe the consensus of Cowboys Nation is that we have our QB for the present and future, he has the often mentioned "IT" factor. The Cowboys will get Romo a new contract, but the question is how much cash will he get?

This year it will cost clubs about $12,615,000 to slap a franchise tag on a QB and this will rise again for the 2008 season, so this is definitely not the route the Cowboys would want to go, nor would they want to let Romo test free agency next year which would, in turn probably mean a bidding war to re-sign him.

So, when you ask yourself how much is Romo worth, or how much and how long would you sign him for there are several factors you must add into the equation.

Let's take a look at some recent contract extensions of "upper echelon" QBs:

In 2002, Donovan McNabb signed a 12yr contract extension in September of 2002, netting him $115 million dollars

In 2004, Mike Vick signed a mega contract of 10yrs for $130 million dollars, there will be many that have an opinion on that, but at the end of the day he got paid huge.

In 2004, Peyton Manning signed a 7yr extension for $98 million dollars which includes the biggest signing bonus to date at $34.5 million dollars

In 2005, Tom Brady signed a contract 6yr deal for $60 million dollars, depending on how the money is spead out that's roughly $10 million yearly, pretty good for a damn good QB

Let's also look at some recent rookie QB contacts:

In 2004, Eli Manning signed a rookie contract for 6yrs for $54million dollars, lot of money for minimal production thus far

In 2004, Philip Rivers signed a rookie contract for 6yrs for $40.5 millions dollars

In 2004, Ben Roethlisberger signed a rookie contract for 6yrs for $22.26 million dollars

In 2005, Alex Smith signed a rookie contract for 6yrs for $50 million dollars

In 2006, Vince Young signed a rookie contract for 6yrs for $54 million dollars

In 2006, Matt Leinart signed a rookie contract for 6yrs for $50.8 million dollars

So, these are the payouts for Veteran QBs that have been extended with new contracts, and some recent Rookie QB contracts being paid out lately.

6yr deals appear to be the preferred length for both Veteran and Rookie contracts, with the exception of a very few.

So what's it gonna be for Tony Romo, a star on the rise for the most covered team in sports, the Dallas Cowboys? Did he prove enough for you, the fan, to deserve a big payout like the QBs mentioned in this piece. For me, I've seen enough to know Romo is the real deal.

Romo is a 4yr Veteran, who has been on the bench behind Quincy Carter('03), Vinny Testaverde('04), and Drew Bledsoe('05 & some '06), so in 2006 he played his first games as a starter, pretty much as a rookie quarterback. Romo was 6-4 as a starter, threw for 2904 yrds with 19TDs and 13INTs, compiling a QB rating of 95.1, not bad at all. Yes, he had a few hiccups here and there, but you're gonna get that from "rookie" QB in Romo, he'll recover and learn from his previous mistakes.

On a side note,What really impressed me was before the Pro Bowl, Sean Payton told Romo he was going to hold on FG/XPs, and he would get more playing time. This is first class all the way from Payton - he got Romo back in the saddle and that's what great coaches do for young players, and even though Payton is no longer with us, he still helped Romo get back and face something that is still fresh in Romo's head. Thank You Payton.

Romo has been blessed to have been mentored and groomed to be the next QB of the Cowboys. Bill Parcells and Sean Payton were instrumental in his progression, and Jerry Jones knows his continued development is needed, and this is why he brought in another of the leagues young rising offensive minds in the game, Jason Garrett.

With all this being said, I think Jerry knows he finally has a franchise QB, one that he hasn't had since Troy Aikman, and Jerry will take care of his guy. Many NFL clubs spend lots of money on early draft picks and free agents that never pan out, and the Cowboys may have missed on a few QB acquisitions, but they have an ultra-steal in Tony Romo. I expect Jerry to pay Romo a pretty good contract, we'll just wait and see how much.