It's not a new idea for those that followed free agency this spring, and Tony Romo confirmed Tuesday that he would have been willing to restructure his contract to keep DeMarco Murray -- or even take a pay cut.
Romo spoke to 105.3 The Fan in a three-part interview Tuesday evening, and the conversation at one point turned to Murray, who departed for Philadelphia three weeks ago. In conversations between the two 2014 Pro Bowlers, the quarterback said he told Murray he'd take less money to keep him in Dallas.
"DeMarco ended up asking me. He was like, 'Why don't you take a pay cut?'" Romo said. "I was like, 'I will! I would take a pay cut to go do this.'"
Murray joined the Eagles on a five-year, $42 million contract with $21 million in guarantees, so the Cowboys would have had to cough up some considerable cash to compete with the offer. Romo could have helped with that, however, given his sizable contract.
Romo is the Cowboys' biggest hit against the salary cap, as he's scheduled to cost the club $27 million -- or about 18 percent of the cap -- this year. Had he restructured his $17 million salary into a signing bonus, however, he could have pushed his expenses into the future while freeing up some savings for the Cowboys to use.
If the Cowboys were unwilling restructure the deal, he could have taken an outright pay cut -- which he said in the interview he'd have been willing to do.
"I was like, 'They're going to restructure,' and that's the same thing in some ways -- for salary cap purposes. He was like, 'OK, now we're back to being friends again,'" Romo said. "I was like, 'You're really worried about me? I would take $5 million less if it meant getting you back,' and he knew that. It was just funny how he was worried about that part of it for like a week."
The Cowboys ultimately decided not to enter a bidding war for the running back and instead watched one of their Pro Bowlers join a division rival for the second straight off-season. They did manage to turn their savings on Murray into contracts for Doug Free, Darren McFadden, Jasper Brinkley and Greg Hardy, however. At the NFL's annual meetings in Phoenix, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said those are moves the team might not have been able to make had it re-signed Murray.
Ultimately, Romo said Murray's departure was the cost of doing business in the NFL.
"I wanted DeMarco back, obviously. But at the same time, the team allocates money to positions and things of that nature," he said. "I think they wanted him back, and obviously a team came in and gave him a great deal. And he deserves to make that decision, too. Obviously, I'm saddened by the fact that he's not a Dallas Cowboy, but that's just part of playing the game in the NFL."
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