Jerry Jones promised Tony Romo that he would “do right” by him, and that time has finally come. Tuesday, April 4th has been a day filled with emotion for Dallas Cowboys fans. Tony Romo is going to retire, he's also going to take Phil Simms' seat next to Jim Nantz as CBS' No.1 color analyst, and he's going to be doing all of that after being released by the Dallas Cowboys.
https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/849317807070343171
Many people have screamed that the Cowboys and Jerry Jones have been “holding Tony Romo hostage.” This completely debunks that entire notion.
From a technical perspective regarding football, Tony Romo is now free to sign wherever he pleases. Of course, it's already been announced that he's retiring and joining CBS, but this is a move of honor made by Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Jones.
NFL Network's Jane Slater has been hip to this for quite some time, but perhaps throughout this entire process the Dallas Cowboys have actually been protecting Tony Romo. The market clearly hasn't been one of high demand for the Dallas Cowboys all-time leading passer, and perhaps the Cowboys didn't want that truth to be exposed with Romo in a position of vulnerability and looking un-wanted.
By keeping Tony Romo on the roster the Cowboys kept him in a position where NFL teams could not technically talk to him without it being considered tampering – a ban lifted by Jerry Jones on Monday, April 3rd. This seemingly afforded Tony Romo the window of time to come to the conclusion that he did without the distractions that would've come his way had he been released on March 9th, like it was originally speculated that he would be.
If Tony Romo truly wanted to he could now ditch this whole CBS deal and go sign with the Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, or whoever else he choose. That won't happen though, because that's not what Tony Romo wants obviously… which disproves the notion that he was ever held hostage.
From a Dallas Cowboys perspective the release is designated as a post-June 1st one. Dallas will gain $14M in salary cap space, but not until June 2nd when it is past the designation. Tony Romo will count $10.7M against the salary cap in 2017 and $8.9M against it in 2018.
Jerry Jones did right by Tony Romo, whether you want to believe it or not.
