Executive vice president Stephen Jones remains confident that the Dallas Cowboys will be able to work out a new deal for Tony Romo despite not meeting with the quarterback’s agent during the NFL scouting combine.
The Cowboys met with the agents for a number of their players in Indianapolis, including representatives for linebacker Anthony Spencer and cornerback Mike Jenkins.
“We haven’t pushed it,” Jones said. “These things are very complicated, and it’s not necessarily complicated face to face. You go ask how a lot of these deals are done. They don’t [involve] a whole lot of talking until the time to get it done. You gather information, you see where you want to be, they get the same information we’re getting and you say, ‘Hey this is where it is.’ ”
Romo is set to count $16.8 million against the cap as he enters the final year of his contract. The Cowboys would be able to carry Romo’s cap figure but it would be difficult — if not impossible — for them to be players in the free-agent market.
“It’s not what we want to do,” Jones said. “Historically with our franchise quarterbacks all the way through Troy (Aikman), all his years, he never saw the end of a contract. It’s the last year of (Romo’s) deal so that’s why it’s important for us to do it. It’s like being all the way to the end for a regular player.”
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The Cowboys are roughly $20 million over the proposed salary cap but Jones said the team will not cut many players to get under the limit.
“Mainly restructures is the way we’re going to manage it,” Jones said.
The Cowboys will rework the deal of cornerback Brandon Carr and in all likelihood will do the same for players like DeMarcus Ware, Jason Witten and Miles Austin, which would create about $21 million in savings.
The Cowboys have not made a decision on whether they will franchise Spencer for the second straight year. They held talks with Spencer’s agent, Jordan Woy, in Indianapolis but owner and general manager Jerry Jones acknowledged what Spencer wants is more than what the Cowboys want to spend.
A second year of the franchise tag for Spencer would cost $10.6 million and would require the Cowboys to create even more space by restructuring contracts or cutting players.
The Cowboys have hopes of re-signing long-snapper L.P. Ladouceur and perhaps keeping safety Eric Frampton.