While it does seem that DeMarco Murray not re-signing with the Dallas Cowboys and joining the Philadelphia Eagles is old news, the subject comes up again with the rumor of the running back asking Tony Romo for a pay cut in order to stay with the team.
Murray, who has been with the Cowboys for the last four years and led the NFL in rushing last season, didn’t get the franchise tag (went to Dez Bryant instead) or the offer he’d had liked from the Cowboys, instead signing a five-year, $42 million deal with division rivals the Philadelphia Eagles, which includes $18 million in guaranteed money. The Cowboys allegedly offered him a $24 million over four-years deal.
Tony Romo spoke on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday and said that Murray asked him about taking a pay cut so he can stay with the Cowboys.
DeMarco ended up asking me, ‘Why don’t you take a pay cut?. I was like, ‘I will. I will take a pay cut to go do this.’ I was like, ‘They’re going to restructure me and the whole thing,’ that’s the same thing in some ways just for salary-cap purposes. He was like, ‘OK, now we’re back to being friends.’ ‘You’re really worried about me? I would take $5 million less if it meant getting you back’. He knew that.
Be it true or not, the Cowboys never approached Romo to restructure his contract (the nice words of taking a pay cut). The Cowboys signed Darren McFadden on a two-year, $3 million deal, and are one of the teams closely following the whole Adrian Peterson – Minnesota Vikings situations, hoping that he’ll be traded or released eventually. Peterson himself really wants to join the Cowboys.
Romo’s salary counts up to $27.7 million against the cap for the Cowboys, but can create a lot of room for the Cowboys by lowering his $17 million base salary to $1 million, helping them out with more than $12 million in cap space. Obviously, that doesn’t eliminate the problem; it only delays it for the 2016 through 2019 seasons.