Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has likely played his final game in the only city he’s called home during an illustrious 13-year NFL career. Set to count $24.7 million against the cap next season, it’s highly unlikely that Romo will return as Dak Prescott’s backup.
With as many as nine teams potentially looking for a new starting quarterback, it seems reasonable that he’ll find a solid market. Previous reports indicated that Romo preferred to be traded to the Denver Broncos, but they seem unwilling to actually trade for him (more on that here).
As the offseason gets going, the question now becomes whether the Cowboys will release or trade Romo. That will likely be dictated by whether other teams show the willingness to actually pay him that $24.7 million salary while giving the Cowboys something back in return. Dallas itself has indicated that trading Romo is its No. 1 priority.
Just a couple months from an ultimate decision being made here, Las Vegas is chiming in on Romo’s potential landing spot with the Houston Texans being showed as the favorites.
2017 Romo odds @BovadaLV:
Hou 3/1
Den 19/4
Bills 5/1
Chi 15/2
NYJ 15/2
Cowboys 10/1
Jags 10/1
SF 10/1
KC 12/1
Mia 12/1
Cle18/1
Retired 20/1— Shan Shariff (@1053SS) January 18, 2017
In theory, this makes a ton of sense. With the likes of Lamar Miller and DeAndre Hopkins on offense and an elite-level defense, the Texans appear to be a quarterback away from title contention. Unfortunately, Houston just doled out $37 million guaranteed to Brock Osweiler last spring and is on the hook for $25 million more guaranteed after Osweiler put up a horrendous 2016 campaign.
Short of the Texans being able to sign Romo to a team-friendly contract after a hypothetical release, this seems to be dead in the water. Houston isn’t going to exhaust nearly $44 million on the quarterback position next season.
It is, however, interesting to see the odds for some of the other teams potentially in the market for a quarterback. Denver makes the most sense considering its contention status and need for a quarterback.
Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers, who are on the verge of hiring Kyle Shanahan as head coach, could also make some sense here. Shanahan has in the past worked with a specific type of quarterback, one that fits the mold of Romo himself. Though, San Francisco would have to make a lot of moves in order to show Romo that it is anywhere near contending in the NFC West.
What we do know is that Romo will be a hot entity when March comes calling. Whether that’s with him on the trade block or as a free agent remains to be seen.