East Rumors: Cowboys, Giants, Fins, Pats

Tony Romo was never going to play for a club other than the Cowboys before retiring last spring, owner Jerry Jones told reporters, including Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link). At one point, teams such as the Broncos and Texans discussed a trade for Romo, but ultimately decided to wait and see if he was released by Dallas. Romo also later admitted that he considered the Jets before hanging up his cleats, but it sounds as though it was Cowboys-or-bust for the veteran signal-caller. Indeed, at least one report last fall indicated Romo would only come out of retirement to play for the Cowboys, but Dak Prescott never suffered any injury that forced Dallas to call its longtime quarterback.

Here’s more from the NFL’s two East divisions:

• Running back Jonathan Stewart is now on injured reserve after suffering a foot injury, but the veteran could conceivably return to the Giants this season, tweets Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com. New York head coach Pat Shurmur said Stewart will be sidelined for eight weeks, the exact amount of time he’d be forced to miss due to the NFL’s IR/return rules. Stewart, who signed a two-year, $6.9MM deal with the Giants earlier this year, had received just six carries in three games, amassing only 17 rushing yards for his new team. With Stewart, New York will use Wayne Gallman as the top backup to Saquon Barkley.
• The Dolphins attempted to trade defensive tackle Jordan Phillips before cutting him earlier today, reports Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The news isn’t all that surprising, as most clubs try to deal players before releasing them and receiving no value. However, Phillips has never lived up to his second-round draft status and also had a sideline disagreement with Miami coaches on Sunday, so the trade market for his services wasn’t large. Though four games, Phillips saw action on 124 defensive snaps. He had a season-high 46 snaps in Week 3 against the Raiders, but his usage dropped back down to 25 snaps in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Pats.
• The Patriots will need to make a roster move before activating Julian Edelman off suspension this week, leading Doug Kyed of NESN to look at candidates to be moved off New England’s active roster. The two most obvious players who could be cut are offensive lineman Cole Croston and defensive end Keionta Davis, both of whom were healthy scratches on Sunday. Elsewhere on the roster, defender Geneo Grissom would likely pass through waivers, so the Patriots could waive him and hope to bring him back to their practice squad.
• With their 2018 campaign looking like a lost cause, the Bills should consider trade offers for running back LeSean McCoy and wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, argues Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. McCoy, of course, still has an investigation hanging over his head, so it’s unclear if there’d be any market for him. Benjamin, meanwhile, hasn’t been effective since joining Buffalo in 2017, and has posted just seven catches in through four games this year. McCoy is signed through 2019, while Benjamin’s contract expires next spring.