Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, has notified all 32 NFL teams they can negotiate directly with Tony Romo or his agent, but the conversations are limited to trade talks.
The Cowboys informed clubs they are "limited to conversations concerning (Romo's) 2017-19 NFL player contract." (i.e. to facilitate a trade)
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) April 3, 2017
While that may have been leaked in order to push the Houston Texans or Denver Broncos to finally pony up and pay the Cowboys to get Romo, neither team is reportedly biting.
Neither the #Broncos, nor the #Texans, will trade for #Cowboys QB Tony Romo, sources says. Still. Today’s news didn’t alter the plans.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 3, 2017
If all options fall through, Romo could retire and go into TV work, where he apparently has some options. Or Jones could finally bite the bullet and full-on release the veteran gunslinger.
Romo timetable
To be exact: @AlbertBreer's question was whether it's important to get resolution on Romo at any point soon. Jerry: "Before training camp."
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 29, 2017
"There's no waiting game," Jones maintained, via SportsDay. "This is the offseason. We're not missing doing anything. From the standpoint of the franchise and the Cowboys, nothing is being held up here at all."
While Jones and the Cowboys aren't missing anything, the longer they wait on moving Romo, the further behind the quarterback will be with his new squad.
Conflicting opinions
It's long been rumored that the Dallas Cowboys will move on from Tony Romo, releasing him onto the open market. The one thing that may be holding back Romo from hitting the open market is conflicting ideas on where Romo should land.
I've said all along, I've heard Romo wants Houston, Jerry prefers him in Denver. https://t.co/JhzBRzOKw6 https://t.co/JhzBRzOKw6
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) March 16, 2017
Sending Romo across the country to another conference takes away the likelihood of any backlash from local fans. Sending him right down the road to the Texans could take away some of the stranglehold the Cowboys have on Texas and shift it to a revitalized Houston fan base (which means money is coming out of Jerry Jones' pockets).
Romo is set to make $14 million in salary for the 2017 season under his current contract, but he has a cap hold of $24 million. Romo's contract also includes salaries of $19.5 million and $20.5 million for the 2018 and 2019 seasons, per Spotrac.
Those salary numbers are a big reason why Romo will likely be cut over traded, which the Cowboys were reportedly attempting to do. It is difficult to move him at that cap hit number, and the Cowboys would likely prefer to clear his contract off the books altogether.
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