The three-team game of chicken between the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans and Denver Broncos about the future of quarterback Tony Romo appears as if it will continue to drag out a while longer.
Cowboys executive vice president was asked about the status of his team's talented but aging quarterback at the NFL's owner meetings in Phoenix on Monday and said, "nothing new." Broncos general manager John Elway was also asked about the possibility of adding Romo and told ESPN's Adam Schefter, "right now we are happy with our quarterback situation." Texans head coach Bill O'Brien offered this:
Translation: The Cowboys are still trying to convince someone to take on Romo's ridiculous contract in a trade, and so far the Broncos and Texans aren't biting.
Romo is owed a base salary of $14 million, $19.5 million and $20.5 million over the next three seasons, according to overthecap.com. That's a lot for a guy who turns 37 next month and has made five combined starts the last two years. Even if a team were to acquire Romo on his current deal and cut him after the 2017 season, they'd still be on the hook for nearly $9 million in dead money. It's hard to imagine any team taking on that deal.
Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Monday that if Romo is released, "the Broncos would have great interest" but that Denver has "no plans to trade for him." This is pretty consistent with previous reports.
It doesn't sound like this big, dumb game of chicken will end any time soon. Either a team makes a desperate play to trade for Romo, or the Cowboys come to grips with the fact that the market's not there and release him. Wake me up when one of those things happens.
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