When Dak Prescott took over for the Dallas Cowboys this past season and became a massive success at quarterback, people assumed Tony Romo’s days were numbered in Dallas. Many assumed that there might be some sort of trade where Tony Romo could be sent to another team that would allow Dallas to make a bit off Romo as he heads out. The major issue came with his mass contract that most teams just did not want to touch, regardless of how good he might be.
This made trades stall a lot for various teams, even those that had reported interest in Romo. This led to many assuming that the Dallas Cowboys might release Tony before the NFL Draft so that they could free up some space on the cap. This led to the discussions getting even hotter in the last few weeks, with many assuming a release would be coming at any point.
ESPN is now reporting that the Dallas Cowboys are going to officially release Tony Romo on Thursday. The timing is done due to the fact that they want to make him a post-June 1 cap casualty. They cannot do that until Thursday, which is why he is being officially released then and not today. They can then designate him a post-June 1 at that time-frame. They can save millions by doing this.
Of course, Tony Romo is free to talk with any team on Thursday that he chooses. It is assumed that he may not sign with any team very soon, but he might wait a bit. However, due to free agency being in play already, he would want to make his decision ideally before the NFL Draft to make sure he could cash in on teams that need a QB now, that could avoid drafting one.
If he does decide to wait, he is at risk of making far less money and even having less interest. If there are two teams that have any interest in Tony Romo, for example, both will pursue him and the one that loses may just draft someone. However, if they need a quarterback now and do know have a certainty that Romo will sign with them, they’ll draft someone. This means both teams might be less interested in Tony Romo and have more faith in a newer QB with less mileage on him.
This is why Tony Romo would want to talk with teams sooner rather than later and make a decision within this month. He might not sign with a team in a few days, but do not be surprised if he does. There is quite a bit of interest in him from a couple teams, but the two that seem to be popping up the most for experts are the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans.
Both of these teams are in the AFC, unlike the Dallas Cowboys, who are in the NFC. Both rosters also have good offenses that just need a good quarterback to lead them. It is also assumed that these teams could still draft a QB to sit behind Tony Romo for a while and then step in after a few years. It would be similar to what the Dallas Cowboys were planning to do with Dak Prescott. However, Romo went down to injury and forced Dallas to put him in.
The Cowboys then went on a huge winning streak, and it seemed ignorant to remove Dak when the team was winning and doing quite well. Romo was healthy and ready to go after a while, but similar to Tony Maddox in Pittsburgh when Ben Roethlisberger went on his big winning streak years ago, Dallas is not willing to take Dak out of the starting line-up for Tony Romo, especially since Prescott has possibly a decade left in his career, whereas Romo may have a few years at best.
This made the Cowboys make a decision. Why keep paying Tony Romo huge money to back up Prescott when they could bring someone in for cheaper or draft someone to back up Dak? The answer was clearly made, and it seemed like most of the fans of Dallas agree with the team on this one, as well as most NFL fans as a whole. It makes financial sense and sense for the team long-term.
Plus, this gives Tony Romo a chance to play for another team and explore opportunities he’s never had. He had an amazing career for the Dallas Cowboys, however, and despite all of the amazing QBs they have had, Romo happens to own the franchise’s passing yards and touchdown records. He may not have been known for having a good playoff career thus far, but he could change this with another team. Often times a change in scenery brings out the best in people.
[Featured Image By Brandon Wade/AP Images]
