NFL Execs On Tony Romo’s Trade Value
The Cowboys insist that Tony Romo is still a part of their plans going forward, but that hasn’t stopped speculation on whether Romo could be traded this offseason and what his price tag could be. Tom Pelissero of USA Today Sports checked in with a handful of NFL executives to gauge Romo’s trade value and got a wide range of answers. 
[RELATED: Cowboys Organization Torn On Romo, Prescott]
One GM feels the Cowboys could get as much as a second-round pick, provided that the Romo could pass a physical. Another executive predicted the Cowboys could ask for a second or third. Another said a third was the absolute max Dallas could get. Other responses ranged from a sixth-round choice to a conditional late-round pick.
“Imagine me going to [the owner] and saying, ‘Listen, I’m going to make a trade for a 36-year-old that’s got back issues that’s a backup,’ ” one anonymous GM said. “He’d be like, ‘You’re crazy.’ ”
Of course, it’s hard to peg Romo’s value without having a good handle on his health or the quarterback landscape in the offseason. Romo’s market would vary depending on which teams needed a quarterback and exactly how desperate they are. As I have noted before, this year’s draft class is pretty thin at QB, and that could help the Cowboys’ case if they choose to deal their one-time franchise star.
The executives mentioned the Jets, Broncos, Cardinals (if they were to dump Carson Palmer) and Bears as possible suitors. The 49ers need a QB, but as Pelissero notes, Romo isn’t a great fit for Chip Kelly‘s offense.
Latest On Tony Romo, Rolando McClain
Before his classy press conference, Tony Romo politely lobbied Cowboys brass for an open quarterback competition, Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com writes. Not wanting to mess with their success, the Cowboys didn’t go for it.
“Tony’s smart,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “He’s very bright. And so when he came out and said it, in the end, I don’t think it took him long to figure that wouldn’t be a great thing for the team. We’ve got a good thing, and no one wants Dak looking over his shoulder.”
With a league-best 8-1 record, it’s no surprise that the Cowboys have decided to go with Prescott, but Romo’s petition to play was also expected. The veteran has taken the news hard, but he has also handled the situation with class.
Here’s more out of Dallas:
- Jones says that having Tony Romo on the team next year is tenable, even when considering his contract, Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram tweets. Jones added that he believes Romo is capable of quarterbacking a Super Bowl team and he has “no plans for him not to be a part” of the Cowboys (Twitter links). Romo is currently slated to earn a $14MM salary for the 2017 season and, in theory, Dallas could cut him for $5.1MM in cap savings. They could also find a decent trade market for No. 9. Multiple teams will be seeking a quarterback and there will be very few quality options in this year’s draft class.
- Jones says Rolando McClain will not be back with team when his suspension is formally lifted on Monday, Clarence Hill of the Star Telegram tweets. That doesn’t necessarily rule out a McClain return at some point this season, though the Cowboys might not want to go down that road. The linebacker reportedly wants to rejoin the team for the final stretch of the season.
- Teammate Jason Witten doesn’t think Tony Romo is thinking about retiring anytime soon.
Rolando McClain Wants To Return To Cowboys
Suspended Cowboys linebacker Rolando McClain wants to return to the team, a source tells Brandon George of The Dallas Morning News. However, it doesn’t necessarily sound like the team wants him back. 
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has left the door open to the possibility of McClain playing this season. Meanwhile, coach Jason Garrett seemed to have a different take on things when asked about the troubled linebacker today.
“We’re just focused on the players that we have here,” Garrett said, adding that he hasn’t had any contact with McClain while he’s been suspended.
It’s also noteworthy that the Cowboys have not kept a locker for McClain at their facility, even though they did keep one for Randy Gregory. The 8-1 Cowboys are likely concerned about McClain’s conditioning and also worried about how his attitude could potentially hurt the positive locker room atmosphere.
“The best thing this team has done is just limited and eliminated the distractions,” tight end Jason Witten said Thursday, not specifically referencing any one player. “And that’s for everybody and we’ve got to continue to do that.”
A source familiar with McClain told George that he has overcome his well-publicized “purple drank” problem and has been working out on his own. A source also indicated the Cowboys are “certainly open” to McClain returning, though it’s hard to peg whether he could play this season. McClain, 27, is scheduled for free agency in the spring.
Cowboys Organization Torn On Romo, Prescott
Tony Romo has graciously accepted his new role as the Cowboys’ backup quarterback, and some in the organization are now hoping he steps aside for good at the end of the season, reports Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports. Even though injuries limited Romo to four games in 2015 and sidelined him for the Cowboys’ first nine contests this season, there’s no indication that the soon-to-be 37-year-old is considering retirement.
Longtime teammate and Hall of Fame-bound tight end Jason Witten indicated Wednesday that Romo’s nowhere near done, saying, “I don’t think he’s planning on retiring anytime soon. I wouldn’t bet against him” (Twitter links via Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News).
Witten added that “it hasn’t entered anyone’s mind” that Romo has taken his last snap as a Cowboy, but it’s a possibility with the way rookie Dak Prescott has fared. Dallas has gone an NFL-best 8-1 with the fourth-rounder at the helm, and Prescott has been one of the NFL’s most effective quarterbacks in the process.
In the first action of his pro career, Prescott has accounted for 18 touchdowns (14 passing, four rushing) against two interceptions and completed 66.8 percent of his 280 aerial attempts. Moreover, Prescott ranks third in the league in yards per attempt (8.35) and fourth in passer rating (106.2), yet some on the Cowboys’ staff still expect the team to need Romo this season, according to Robinson. A team source told Robinson that four of the Cowboys’ wins this year could have been losses, implying that luck has been on Prescott’s side. While the Cowboys have gone 4-1 in one-score games this year, the source’s critique would hold more weight if the Prescott-led club didn’t have the league’s best point differential (plus-88) and third-ranked DVOA backing up its record.
In the event Romo does take the reins back sometime this year – whether through an injury to Prescott or a dip in the 23-year-old’s performance – it would provide much-needed closure to the organization, Robinson writes. By returning to the helm, Romo would answer on the field whether he or Prescott is the better man for the job at present.
Of course, if Prescott continues to thrive, Romo’s playing days in Dallas could indeed be finished. The Cowboys reportedly aren’t considering a Romo trade, but if they do shop him during the offseason and don’t find a taker, releasing him to collect $5.1MM in cap savings would become a possibility. If that happens, it’s conceivable Romo could remain in the state and sign with the Texans, tweets Robinson (links here). However, Robinson notes that the Texans’ cap situation would likely require Romo to take a significant pay cut compared to the $14MM salary he’s scheduled to rake in next season.
The Broncos would also be in the mix for Romo, adds Robinson, though the Texans clearly have the bigger need. While Broncos starter Trevor Siemian has been mediocre in 2016, former Denver passer and current Texan Brock Osweiler has been an abject disaster in his first year in Houston. Osweiler, who received $37MM in guarantees from the Texans during the offseason, ranks last among 33 qualifying QBs in yards per attempt (5.61) and 31st in passer rating (74.1). The Texans have gone 6-3 in spite of Osweiler, which makes one wonder how much better they’d perform with a healthy Romo (not to mention J.J. Watt) in 2017.
Opinion: Cowboys Should Have Passed On Randy Gregory
After defensive end Randy Gregory‘s latest slip-up, Babe Laufenberg of The Dallas Morning News hopes that the Cowboys and Jason Garrett realize the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. In the wake of Gregory’s latest failed drug test, owner Jerry Jones has said that he will not give up on the former second-round pick. Still, Dallas probably would have been better off paying attention to Gregory’s red flags and passing on him in the draft, Laufenberg opines. Many fans have expressed similar sentiments after the Cowboys have dealt with Gregory, Greg Hardy, Rolando McClain, and other failed reclamation projects, but it is hard to argue with the club’s results on the field this season. Teams can often get ahead by taking risks and the 8-1 Cowboys seem to be doing fine despite some miscalculations.
Cowboys Promote Vince Mayle, Place Geoff Swaim On IR
- The Cowboys promoted wide receiver Vince Mayle from the practice squad to the active roster. He takes the place of tight end Geoff Swaim, who has been formally placed on IR after undergoing pectoral surgery. Mayle was a fifth-round pick of Cleveland in 2015.
Cowboys Have Not Pondered Tony Romo Trade
Now that Dak Prescott has been anointed as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback, speculation has been rampant about Tony Romo‘s future with the organization. If Prescott’s success continues, it certainly stands to reason that the Cowboys could trade Romo to allow him to start elsewhere and allow themselves to add a draft pick. However, the Cowboys have not yet considered that possibility, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link).
[RELATED: Tony Romo On Status As Cowboys No. 2 QB]
There’s a strong belief within the organization that they may need Romo around at some point. Meanwhile, one league source believes that the Cowboys will not be able to retain the veteran if Prescott continues to play well. Two other league sources say that Romo will be in high demand this offseason because he offers experience at a notoriously thin position and he comes at a reasonable salary for the next three years.
Of course, the Cowboys have lots of time to ponder the possibility of trading Romo. Now that the trade deadline has passed, Dallas is in no rush to gauge the market and, as Cole cautioned, circumstances can certainly change between now and the end of the season. If Prescott were to falter badly or get injured, that could open the door for Romo this year and make him a necessary piece for 2017.
Tony Romo On Status As Cowboys No. 2 QB
Tony Romo will be active this Sunday for the first time all season, but as Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced over the weekend, Romo will serve as rookie quarterback Dak Prescott‘s backup rather than as the club’s starter. In an extremely impressive statement, Romo today acknowledged his new role, and vowed that he would act not as a distraction, but as a mentor.
[RELATED: Cowboys Won’t Give Up On Randy Gregory]
“[F]ootball is a meritocracy,” said Romo (video link). “You aren’t handed anything. You earn everything every single day single day, over and over again. You have to prove it. That’s the way that the NFL, that’s the way that football works. A great example of this is Dak Prescott and what he’s done.
He’s earned the right to be our quarterback. As hard as that is for me to say, he’s earned that right. He’s guided our team to an 8-1 record, and that’s hard to do. If you think for a second that I don’t want to be out there, then you’ve probably never felt the pure ecstasy of competing and winning. That hasn’t left me.”
Romo, who referenced the difficulty of facing injury for two consecutive seasons, seeing a successor emerge, and hearing whispers that his career may be nearing its end, admitted that this season has been “the darkest it’s ever been” (from a personal level), and confessed that being sidelined can lead one to feel like an outsider. Additionally, Romo conceded that watching the Cowboys succeed without him is “not always easy to watch,” but made clear that he won’t force the club’s hand as they choose their quarterback going forward.
Cowboys Promote Vince Mayle
- The Cowboys are promoting wide receiver Vince Mayle from the practice squad to the active roster, according to a tweet from his agents at Reign Sports. Mayle is a former fourth-round selection of the Browns.
Jerry Jones: Tony Romo To Serve As Backup
Over the weekend, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones confirmed that Dak Prescott will start for the Cowboys in Week 11 while Tony Romo serves as the backup. Jones stopped short saying that the rookie will start for the remainder of the season, but in an interview this morning he implied that the job belongs to Prescott and he will not be on a short leash. Prescott “won’t be looking over his shoulder,” Jones said (Twitter link via Charean Williams of the Star Telegram).
Jones also told 105.3 The Fan that he has had the conversation with Romo about dressing and being the backup (Twitter link). Romo, we’ve heard, is not overly pleased with the situation. Jones said that he thinks Romo will make a great offensive coordinator when his playing days are through, and that’s likely not much of a consolation for the 36-year-old.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow for Romo, but the Cowboys would be hard-pressed to make any other choice as they sit atop the NFL with an 8-1 record.