Jerry Jones Cowboys owner puts a deadline on the Tony Romo deal!

As you probably followed up until now, you know that the situation between Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys isn’t going anywhere, and it seems that the resolution will not come anytime soon as well. This was also visible during the interview at the NFL’s annual owners meeting on Tuesday where Jerry Jones didn’t look like he is in any hurry to resolve the situation. To be honest, he looked like he is going to take all the time needed.

This, of course, brings up the question – how long will we have to wait to see this thing resolved? Well, how about four months? Yes, you heard right four months is the time that Jerry Jones gave himself as a personal deadline. The four months period actually coincides with the end of training camp which is in July, and until then we will see a heck of a dance when Romo’s future is considered.

The decision to hold up and not hurry with this is very logical for Cowboys. Why? Well, if the team decides to release him they can split up his cap hit over two seasons, especially if they wait until after June 1 to make a move. If the release happened right now, the team would have to pay $19.6 million in dead cap money. So pure math states that if the release happens after June 1st, Romo would count $10.7 million toward the 2017 cap and $8.9 million toward the 2018 cap, at least according to ESPN.com.

Jones gave a statement via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram saying “There’s no waiting game. This is the off season. 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.” Jones also said that Romo isn’t pushing for the release because he didn’t figure out what exactly he wants to do – keep playing, or retire and move up to the broadcast booth. “There is kind of a menu of several alternatives that Tony has. In that sense, he has, as much as we look at this as an important time for Tony, he’s got some great options,” according to Jones.

There were also some reports that stated that Romo is unhappy that he hasn’t been cut by now (expected release was supposed to happen on March 9th), but Jones disputed that saying “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. I feel good about how we’re doing. We’re being the Cowboys, me and Tony. I feel very good about it.”

But there is another angle here that some of you didn’t consider. The Cowboys could hold on to Romo until they start the offseason practices and just then realize how bad their quarterback situation actually is. That, and only then, it might push them forward with making a trade offer for Romo, which is something they haven’t done just yet.