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Poll: Where Will Tony Romo Play In 2017?

February 4th, 2017 at 6:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Cowboys’ unquestioned starter for nearly 10 years, Tony Romo is now a key element in the NFL offseason because of his arrow pointing out of Dallas. While it’s no certainty the Cowboys will let him go, he wants another chance to be a starter. And several teams have emerged on his prospective list.

Sources pointed to Romo preferring the Broncos last month, and the latest coming out of the Romo sweepstakes leads to the 36-year-old quarterback wanting to play for a contender. The Broncos, Chiefs, Cardinals and Texans are on this short list, one that does not appear to include the Bills despite the franchise’s interest. Each of Romo’s choices has a reason not to pursue the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback, but with the exception of the Cards, none of these teams has a better option. That is, if Romo is healthy after two injury-besieged seasons.

It would qualify as a high-profile risk, and one teams likely aren’t willing to take due to the veteran’s league-high $24.7MM 2017 cap number. But given how close the aforementioned AFC squads are to Super Bowl contention with suboptimal passing attacks, acquiring a proven veteran like this should be considered.

Initially zooming to the front of the Romo race, the Broncos are reluctant to trade for Romo. Although, despite John Elway‘s proclamation about the team preferring another Trevor Siemian-vs.-Paxton Lynch battle — one likely to be tilted toward Lynch — Mike Klis of 9News reported recently the Broncos could be interested in Romo as a free agent. They obviously have experience in this kind of decision, but having Lynch as an incumbent is a bit different than only Tim Tebow standing in Peyton Manning‘s path in 2012.

The Broncos’ recent first-round investment in Lynch makes wanting to see what the 6-foot-7 prospect can do soon reasonable, but after a year in which he struggled in Gary Kubiak‘s offense, the raw talent having to learn Mike McCoy‘s could make him closer to a longer-term project than a player who would help complement the Broncos’ elite defense next season. Due to Denver not having a franchise-quarterback salary on its books and deploying the No. 1 DVOA defense in back-to-back seasons, a Romo/Broncos partnership should remain a high-volume talking point for a while. Although, the Broncos currently have the worst offensive line of the teams in this conversation, which should be a factor for an injury-prone passer.

Kansas City is now 0-for-5 in its past five divisional-playoff games, spanning 22 seasons, after losing to Pittsburgh despite the Chiefs scoring two more touchdowns than did the Steelers. The Chiefs are a logical Romo destination because management may be determining Alex Smith has taken the team as far as he can. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported earlier today the Chiefs are eyeing a quarterback upgrade.

Romo would be the only quarterback, among veterans who figure to be available this year, that would qualify as an upgrade on the 32-year-old Smith. Although, the Chiefs have a staggering modern history of eschewing the draft route for veteran signal-callers. From Joe Montana to Smith, the Chiefs’ preferred signal-callers have been veterans. This string predates Montana, with Todd Blackledge (1983) being the franchise’s last first-round QB choice. So it could be time for management to look toward a younger heir apparent. But the Chiefs’ nucleus appears close to pushing for a Super Bowl, and Smith’s $7.2MM dead money figure makes a split more plausible than in the past.

Houston may have made the most sense for Romo due to its proximity to Dallas and having a defense housing J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney. It would have been an ideal fit before the team’s ill-fated Brock Osweiler investment. The Texans, though, are believed to be prepared to draft a quarterback and are not expected to pursue Romo. The Texans have at least one more year before they’re able to make a non-damaging Osweiler cut. The four-year, $72MM deal would come with a $25MM dead money blow if Houston was to release Osweiler in 2017. Next year, that figure drops to $6MM. And making that financial sacrifice for a player who hasn’t been healthy for a full season since 2014 would be risky.

The Cardinals are also equipped to win after advancing to the 2015 NFC championship game, but they might be due for another season with their incumbent 37-year-old passer. Bruce Arians expects Carson Palmer to announce a return soon, and Larry Fitzgerald coming back would make a Palmer 2017 re-emergence more likely.

Romo is currently signed through 2019, and the Cowboys are looking set to continue the Dak Prescott era. Despite Prescott’s nondescript pedigree, he shined in Dallas’ ball-control offense and played well in the team’s last-second playoff defeat. Having him under team control for three more seasons on a rookie deal makes this an easy decision.

The interest in Romo should be constant, pointing to a trade. But the aforementioned contending teams won’t be eager to make that happen. If no trade materializes, the Cowboys would be forced to decide if they want to follow through on carrying the league’s most expensive backup. They are currently projected to be $11MM over the cap, complicating this situation further.

So, where do you think Romo will play in 2017? Will he follow Manning’s path to Denver? Will the Chiefs pull the plug on the Smith experiment after four years? How serious are the Texans about avoiding this pursuit? Is there a darkhorse team out there?

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