Dallas Cowboys Restructure QB Tony Romo's Contract, Sort Of Extend Through 2016

On the heels of extending three-time Pro Bowl nose tackle Jay Ratliff, word has leaked that the Cowboys have also restructured the contract of quarterback Tony Romo. ESPN's Todd Archer reports that the Cowboys have restructured Romo's current deal, in a somewhat similar fashion to how they approached DeMarcus Ware and Miles Austin earlier in the summer. There are some interesting differences though.

Sifting through the language in Archer's piece, it appears that the Cowboys have added three years to the tail end of Romo's deal to last through the 2016 season; years that void if he remains on the team through 2013. This would appear to mean if he stays in Dallas, his contract runs through 2013, but if he's traded he's signed through 2016.

The move gives the team added flexibility in his prorated signing bonus hit to the team's salary cap.

Romo was scheduled to make a $9 million base salary in 2011 but the team converted $8.19 million into signing bonus, which gives Romo a base salary of $810,000.

Depending on exactly how Jay Ratliff's contract is structured, the Cowboys now seem to be around $18 million under the 2011 cap, an amount that can be applied as a credit to next year's salary cap. From Rotoworld, here are his salary numbers for the next three seasons:

2011: $810,000 (+ $8.19 million "signing" bonus), 2012: $9 million, 2013: $11.5 million,

Dallas currently has approximately $20 million or so in 'dead' money on next year's cap due to all of the escalated hits from their slew of offseason releases. This would seem to indicate the team will have great flexibility in augmenting it's roster next offseason.  Cap ramifications following the voiding of the extra years are unclear at this time, at least to me.

Someone grab their copy of the latest CBA.