Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo could very well have a say in where he ends up next month. After months of speculation that the former Pro Bowler would be traded, reports surfaced earlier this week that Romo himself anticipates being released.
As a 37-year-old quarterback that has played in a grand total of five games over the past two seasons, Romo’s situation is tricky. When healthy, he’s surely still a starter-caliber quarterback in the NFL. Unfortunately, when you combine his injury history with a $24.7 million cap hit for the 2017 season, a trade becomes more difficult.
If Romo were to hit free agency, the amount of teams lining up to sign him likely wouldn’t be limited at all.
For his part, the veteran reportedly prefers four squads over the rest of the pack.
“Tony has teams he’d rather be with than not,” CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora reported on Friday. “The four teams he’s most interested in are Houston, Kansas City, Denver and Arizona.”
Based on his track record of elite play and the fact that he’s on the back end of his career, it would make sense that Romo might want to join a contender.
The issue here is that all four of these teams are committed to starters right now. New Denver Broncos head coach Vance Joseph indicated recently that he’s prepared to stay in-house for his team’s quarterback competition. Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has already committed to Alex Smith for 2017.
Meanwhile, the Houston Texans have free-agent bust Brock Osweiler on the roster and Carson Palmer just recently announced he’s returning to the Arizona Cardinals next season.
Sure one of these teams could change up its thinking, but they all seem like long shots at this point.
Among the other squads potentially looking for a quarterback, the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers seem to be ways away from contention.
It’s definitely going to be an interesting story to watch develop between now and the start of free agency in March.