Cowboys Less Than $1 Million Over Cap, Rework Tony Romo’s Contract

The Cowboys have created $10 million in salary cap space with the reworking of Tony Romo’s contract. They will now be less than $1 million over the cap.

$12.5 million of Romo’s $13.5 million base salary will be converted into a signing bonus, thus dropping his salary-cap figure from $21.7 million to $11.7 million. Last year Romo signed a six-year contract worth $108 million with $55 million guaranteed.

He is currently rehabbing from the back surgery he underwent in December and is expected to be back on the field on April 21.

Dallas also restructured the contracts of Sean Lee and Orlando Scandrick, creating $6.8 million in cap space. Scandrick signed a two-year contract extension, guaranteeing him $9 million, late last season. Meanwhile, Lee signed a six-year extension worth up to $51 million last season.

All three of these moves put the Cowboys less than $1 million from being under their $134.55 million salary cap.

Dallas shouldn't have any problem getting under the cap with DeMarcus Ware and Miles Austin in the picture. Should they release Ware, who is set to count $16 million against the cap, they would save $7.4 million. They also maintain the option of reworking Ware's contract. In addition, Austin counts $8 million against the cap. Dallas could save $5.5 million by making him a post-June 1 cut.

Decisions on Ware and Austin have yet to be made.