Let’s make something really crystal clear! Tony Romo was never going to be traded to nor will he ever sign with the Washington Redskins!!!! That’s not happening. No Orel Hershiser here! That type of fake news, which we’ll call out here on the Round Up, was started by a guy notorious, IMO, for ridiculous & absurd stories. You see a story by him that looks bogus, then beware, its very possible its just a discussion starter and couldn’t be further from the truth.
It appears that this all culminates on March 9th, first day of free agency signings at 4 PM. Tony is to be released or traded before the day is out from the reports. A move just in is that the Texans unloaded, ok dumped, Osweiller on the Browns. Can only mean that they wanted in on the Romo action however it plays out. They needed cap relief to pull it off and got 10M in making the trade.
What else does this quick activity tell us? First, they would love to make a trade but only for the teams Tony had interest in, namely the Texans & the Bronco’s in that order. Most importantly, it tells us Jerry is doing everything possible to give Tony an opportunity to catch on with a team of his choice. JJ did not have to do this so quickly unless he got a great deal. Given the trade by the Texans, it flashes a bright neon light on the state of Texas tonight. What can they get for Tony here today? I project a swap in the 1st round and likely that 4th rounder they just got from the Brown’s. That’s a whole lot better than the talk of a straight release that was bouncing around yesterday.
Making Tony a June 1 release, doesn’t free up a nickel until that date, the team has to keep the full cap hit until then. The GM could play all his cards thru draft day and see if anyone wanted to swap picks, but that’s less than 50 days from now. By then the opportunities for Romo would likely be gone and those two teams at the top of his list would go to their Plan B’s. Teams want to get a clear view ASAP. It lays all the ground work for their activity in free agency and approach to the draft.
Jerry could have gone to camp with Tony and seen if a Bradford type trade materialized during preseason or early September. Heck, we all know that Tony is light years beyond a Sam Bradford! Clearly, Jerry wasn’t going to cut off Tony’s best options to continue his career. Call it payback for 14 years as the face of the franchise and for his announcement last season that he was accepting of the passing of the torch. Tony made it clear that he wasn’t going to be a distraction in the press nor the locker room. He will forever be welcomed in AT&T stadium by the team and don’t dismiss his return one day! Player, coach or analyst, but he will be back ……
But, no, Jerry’s showing the value of a 14 year relationship between himself and his long time franchise QB and giving Tony every chance to get with a team he prefers to continue his career with and not stick him in Cleveland. Remember back to when Tony raised a floundering team from the ashes under Bledsoe to the playoffs in 2006 & again in 2007 with a 13-3 record. You have to tip your cap, or at least give an “atta boy” to Jerry for doing everything possible to do right by a loyal player!
It’s not talked about often or maybe at all but I’ll put it out there that during the Romo years, the 9th wonder of the world was created, The House That Jerry Built! Jerry, I’m sure credits Tony for getting the team through some years that would have been dreadful without that Romo magic. Filling the seats certainly helped the financing of the new stadium. There were years where the team wasn’t that good or really any good but still flirted with that week 17 game, win and you’re in the playoffs. Keeping the team relevant regardless of draft failures, lack of picks, abysmal trades (Roy Williams) or just a flat out lack of depth on the roster, Romo’s performance was vital to the franchise. Y’all remember that year that we didn’t have a pick until the 3rd round? Building the best stadium was a huge moment for the Jones family & the brand and for my two measly cents Romo did his part to help make it financially possible. Same for the newest addition, The Star in Frisco. No the team wasn’t close to SB worthy during the Romo years but you didn’t kick them to the curb as irrelevant as they had been in the early 2000’s. That if you recall was the time of Troy’s final days, the Joey Galloway trade and more really ineffective draft picks. The person to feel bad for was Dave Campo to inherit that time period. No quality picks, no viable QB and few, if any, impact players. Shame, because Campo is one smart defensive coach and never really had a roster to produce a winning team.
Will Jerry take some criticism if he simply releases Tony on the first day? Well, I can see a few local writers in Dallas that will rip into Jerry for the quick release and failure to get some value. They’d be partially correct but if Tony refused to play for those other teams, then what good would it have been? After 14 years, the guy wants to compete with a team that has a chance. Look how desperate the Bears are, they’re signing Mike Glennon to a 3 year deal at a low level starter money of about 14M per year. The Bears needed a fresh start at QB and part with Cutler, but Mike Glennon isn’t an upgrade in proven ability.
Let’s see how it plays out today, but it has a chance at a win win situation for the Cowboys and a terrific soldier, Tony Romo! Gotta wish them both, “Good Luck”!
