FanHouse

Kudos to Todd Archer of the Dallas Morning News Cowboys Blog for posting the specific numbers on the new contract that quarterback Tony Romo has signed with the Cowboys. Too often the media just report the total value of contracts, but Archer tells us that Romo has received an $11.5 million signing bonus, and the following base salaries:

2007 - $6 million (the Cowboys added $4.5 million to his $1.5 million base this year)
2008 - $6.5 million (fully guaranteed)
2009 - $7 million ($6 million guaranteed)
2010 - $8.5 million
2011 - $9 million
2012 - $9 million
2013 - $11.5 million

Although big contracts in the NFL often have inflated values because of big back-end salaries that will never be earned, I do think there's a decent chance that the 27-year-old Romo will play out this entire contract, including the $11.5 million salary in 2013, which won't seem quite so huge as the league's salary cap continues to rise.

Romo probably could have squeezed more money out of Jerry Jones if he had waited four months, when his contract was going to expire -- when you're a free agent, you have more leverage. On the other hand, by pocketing the $11.5 million signing bonus now, he's ensured that he'll be set for life, even if he suffers some kind of horrific injury in the next four months. Overall, not a bad deal.