Texans Still In Mix For Tony Romo?

Among the numerous teams connected with Tony Romo, the Texans haven’t hovered on the forefront of this unique pursuit despite being an apparent fit. But the growing sense among executives, coaches and agents around the league is the Texans being the most likely destination for the Texans, Mark Maske of the Washington Post notes.

Houston’s last known stance on this matter surfaced more than a month ago, when owner Bob McNair said the team intends to draft a quarterback. Romo was not believed to be an option for the Texans at that point. Since, Romo’s been connected to the Broncos, Chiefs, Redskins, 49ers, Bears and Bills — with a scenario now involving a three-team trade between the Cowboys, 49ers and Redskins being the most unique — in what’s becoming quite the complicated race. But the Texans are an obvious fit, Brock Osweiler‘s contract notwithstanding, due to their hole at quarterback and strong defense.

That one makes the most sense to me,” a high-ranking official with one franchise said, via Maske. “I don’t think anyone in the league would be surprised to see that one happen.”

Regarding the blockbuster three-team trade mentioned on Friday, a high-ranking Cowboys official told Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link) that the team hasn’t been contacted about a deal that would send Romo to Washington and Kirk Cousins to San Francisco. Multiple sources told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk the Romo-to-D.C. proposal might be implausible.

If the smoke clears on that would-be megadeal and Romo is still with the Cowboys, the Texans will still have Osweiler’s contract to deal with. The sixth-year passer struggled last season but has three seasons remaining on the four-year, $72MM pact he signed last March. And $25MM in dead money is attached to that accord for 2017, providing a deterrent to the Romo-to-Houston talk. Romo has three seasons left on his Cowboys deal, one that includes a league-high $24.7MM cap number in ’17, but he expects to be released. The Texans have $23MM-plus in cap space but want to re-sign A.J. Bouye, who is expected to be one of the highest-paid free agents on the market.

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