Tony Romo Rumors: Cleveland Browns Trade Possible By Paying Romo’s Contract?

Tony Romo rumors aren’t limited to just Cleveland Browns trade chatter, as the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos also continue to be suitors for his services. Even with all the NFL rumors about teams looking to trade for the veteran quarterback, the easiest way for a team to get the Dallas Cowboys to agree to a deal is to pay the full Tony Romo contract. The ever-evolving situation has turned from the Cowboys preparing to release Romo, to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones basically holding him hostage to convince another franchise to make a trade.

A report by NFL analyst Adam Schefter recently stated that he would be surprised if the Dallas Cowboys trade rumors actually led to something. He felt that there wouldn’t be enough interest from other NFL teams during the negotiations and that no franchise would want to pay the Romo contract in addition to giving up an asset to complete the deal. That asset would likely have to be a selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, as Jones is looking to add players in an effort to get his team back to the Super Bowl as soon as possible.

Several more stories have surfaced since then, with the Tony Romo rumors linking the Cowboys to the Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, and even the San Francisco 49ers. A Browns trade is the easiest one to complete (on paper) because the team not only has a high number of picks in the next two drafts, but the team has enough salary cap space to absorb Romo’s contract. The reality of this situation, though, is that most of the NFL rumors linking Romo to the Browns have been created on social media.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Cleveland Browns traded a 2017 fourth-rounder in exchange for Brock Osweiler and two draft picks, a sixth-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and a second-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. With many Browns trade rumors linking the team to other quarterback options this offseason, the deal with the Houston Texans caught a lot of fans and experts by surprise. It was explained as a way for the Browns to acquire additional draft picks and pay the salary of Osweiler to do it. It now appears Osweiler doesn’t play into the long-term plans of Cleveland.

What does this all mean? It means that more Cleveland Browns trades could take place during the NFL offseason, possibly acquiring the team a quarterback who could start the opening game of the 2017 NFL season. Here is the bad news for Dallas Cowboys fans, or Browns fans hoping to lands a decent veteran quarterback. Amid all the Tony Romo rumors on the internet, there has not been a single confirmation by the brass in Cleveland that they are looking at Romo, or have opened negotiations with the Cowboys for his services.

On the surface, it would appear that any Tony Romo-Cleveland Browns trade rumors have no basis in reality. That doesn’t rule out the possibility of something taking place in the near future, but it might require another Brock Osweiler trade to take place first. If the Browns were able to vacate some of Osweiler’s salary, it would be easier to absorb that hefty Tony Romo contract. Outside of that situation, it appears more likely that Romo could be heading to the Houston Texans or Denver Broncos before training camp gets started.

There is, of course, another scenario that could take place with the 13-year veteran quarterback. If Jerry Jones is unable to convince another team to part with a draft pick for Romo, he is going to get cut before the Cowboys have to start paying Romo’s 2017 salary. It’s not a secret that Tony Romo’s contract is a bad one for any team, as he is slated to earn $14 million this season and has a $24.7 million cap hit for the Cowboys. He is also slated to earn $19.5 million in 2018, and then $20.5 million in 2019. This has made moving him a very difficult prospect.

If Vegas was placing odds on all of the scenarios in this situation, the most likely event to occur would be the Dallas Cowboys cutting Romo, and the least-likely event would be the Cleveland Browns trading for him. In between those possible end results are the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos, with both teams having a defined interest in signing him as a free agent, but less so in dealing draft picks to acquire him. With little incentive for the Cowboys to move quickly, it is also very likely that the Tony Romo rumors are going to continue to drag on.

[Featured Image by Rich Schultz /Getty Images]