Tony Romo - Pro Football Rumors

Reaction To Tony Romo’s Retirement

April 4th, 2017 at 8:56pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today was essentially Tony Romo Day in the NFL — the longtime Cowboys quarterback retired rather than possibly pursue a late-career opportunity with another club, signed on to become CBS’ No. 1 color commentator, and was officially released by Dallas.

Let’s take a look at some of the reaction to and fallout from Romo’s decision to hang up his cleats:

While Romo wouldn’t rule out an eventual return to the NFL earlier today, one source tells Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter link) Romo won’t be on the field again. “It’s over,” said the source. “He’s done. This was a no-brainer.” Theoretically, nothing prevents Romo from a midseason comeback once the 2017 campaign gets underway, especially if his contract with CBS contains opt-out clauses (as is rumored). Plus, now that the Cowboys have released Romo, his rights are no longer owned by a single club.
Romo contends he would have had to pay back money to the Cowboys had they not chosen to release him, according to Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com (Twitter link). However, Clarence Hill of the Star Telegram reported Dallas would not have gone after the $5MM in signing bonus money to which it was entitled. Unless the organization had privately changed course on that aspect of Romo’s contract, he needn’t have worried about sacrificing money.
Had he not retired, Romo — unsurprisingly — would have been atop the Texans’ wishlist, and Houston would have signed him to a deal that paid him like a starter “if he played and performed as such,” tweets Werder. Romo admitted the Texans would have been among the teams he strongly considered playing for, but Werder’s report indicates a contract with Houston would have been heavily incentivized.
CBS began discussing a possible deal with Romo as soon as the season ended, CBS Sports president Sean McManus says (Twitter link via Breer). Negotiations apparently intensified over the past month, and a final deal came together on Monday evening.

Tony Romo Won’t Rule Out NFL Comeback

April 4th, 2017 at 4:20pm CST by Zachary Links

The Texans were said to have interest in Tony Romo and we now know that interest was mutual. Romo has chosen broadcasting over playing, but if he moved forward as a quarterback, Romo says the Texans would have been his top choice.

“Obviously Houston was at the top of the list of teams that I looked at,” Romo told reporters on a conference call today.

Romo’s affinity for the Texans might not mean much right now, but it is perhaps something to file away in case we have a Brett Favre situation on our hands. Romo stressed that he could “play tomorrow” if he wanted to, so it sounds like we’ll be in for at least a couple of years of will he/won’t he speculation. When asked if this is really the end of the line, Romo said he’s “99%” retired and “never say never” to the possibility of a comeback. He also said that he’s probably healthier now than he was in 2014.

The former Cowboys QB “went back and forth many times” on playing versus retiring, but says he ultimately decided to transition to the booth because of the great opportunity presented by CBS. Only time will tell if Romo can be coaxed into playing again.

Cowboys Release Tony Romo

April 4th, 2017 at 1:12pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cowboys are releasing Tony Romo, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The move will be designated as a post-June 1 cut, allowing the Cowboys to disperse the cap hit over the next two seasons. The necessary paperwork has been sent in to the league office, Todd Archer of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link).

“We wish Tony and his family nothing but the best,” said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in a statement. “As an organization, we did what he asked us to do in terms of his release, and we wanted to do what was ultimately in his best interest and in the best interest of his family. Tony has been a wonderful representative of the Cowboys organization for 14 years, and he left everything he had on the field. He will leave us with many great memories and a legacy of being, truly, one of the greatest players in Cowboys history. We are thrilled for him and his family that he will be able to continue working as a professional in the game he so dearly loves. He is a young man who is just getting started on a long journey in life. All the best my friend.”

As we learned on Tuesday morning, Romo is headed to CBS where he will take over for Phil Simms as the network’s No. 1 color commentator. Some expected Romo to file retirement paperwork, but this move by the Cowboys will contractually allow him to sign elsewhere at some point, if he chooses. From a cap standpoint, the outcome is roughly the same. But, technically, Romo will be free to return in a different uniform, and that will leave the door open to speculation.

Romo, 37 in April, has been through a myriad of injuries in recent years and his health was said to be a driving factor in his decision. Certainly, the opportunity that awaits him at CBS also helped to push him in this direction. Romo won’t be taking too much of a pay cut as he transitions to TV and, obviously, he won’t be risking the same kind of wear and tear to his body. The Cowboys reportedly will not go after his bonus money, so he’ll get to hold on to ~$5MM that the team could have theoretically withheld.

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Tony Romo To Sign With CBS

April 4th, 2017 at 10:16am CST by Zachary Links

Rumors of Tony Romo landing with the Texans, Broncos, or some other team circulated for months before today’s news of his retirement. Apparently, Romo won’t be leaving us wondering for too long about his next career move. After also receiving serious interest from FOX, Romo has reached verbal agreement on a deal with CBS, according to John Ourand of Sports Business Daily.

Romo will be in the booth alongside play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz in the network’s “A-Team” package. That means that Romo will be calling CBS’ most important game of the week and will almost certainly be making the most money of any color analyst in the family. The arrival of Romo will displace Phil Simms and it’s not immediately clear whether he’ll remain with CBS in a different capacity.

Ourand hears that CBS offered more money than FOX and also a more prestigious position. FOX, apparently, wanted Romo to replace new 49ers GM John Lynch on their B-Team. Romo’s familiarity with the NFC would have made him a fit for FOX, but he would have been effectively blocked from moving up to the A-Team thanks to the presence of Troy Aikman. Aikman is just 50 years old and unlikely to retire anytime soon. Another plus to the CBS offer was the potential for Romo to eventually do some golf commentary, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Romo’s decision to step away from football makes a bit more sense when considering the salary and visibility that will come with the CBS job. Some in football seem to think that Romo could return to the Cowboys in the event of an injury, but he might not want to step away from one of the game’s best broadcasting gigs in order to do that.

Cowboys QB Tony Romo Retires From NFL

April 4th, 2017 at 8:38am CST by Zachary Links

Tony Romo will retire from the NFL in order to begin a new career in broadcasting, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com writes. Romo has reportedly drawn interest from at least two of the league’s major television partners, but it’s not clear which network he’ll be joining. What we do know is that he won’t be taking the field for the start of the 2017 season.

Ultimately, Romo’s decision came down to health. After two lost seasons, Romo apparently did not feel good about the idea of taking the field for his age-37 season. The veteran has suffered collarbone and back injuries, including the compression fracture that opened the door for Dak Prescott in 2016.

This year, speculation was rampant that the Texans and Broncos would go hard after Romo. However, in recent weeks, we’ve been hearing that their interest has cooled. At minimum, both teams had decided that they would not be willing to trade for him, which makes sense given his enormous contract and Jerry Jones’ asking price, which was believed to be high. It’s not clear what each franchise would have been willing to offer Romo as a free agent, nor do we know if he would have been guaranteed a starting job in Week 1. That’s especially true in Denver, where the Broncos have two quality young QBs. For now, it’ll be Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch fighting for the job in Denver. Meanwhile, Houston as Tom Savage penciled in as the QB1 with Brandon Weeden as the understudy.

Dallas will be able to split Romo cap hit over two years without designating him as a post-June 1 release or even releasing him, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. If Romo officially retires on June 2 or later, they can take cap hits of $10.7MM in 2017 and $8.9MM in ’18 rather than one giant $24.7MM hit in the coming year. However, not everyone is convinced that Romo is done for good.

“Romo is now every teams emergency backup QB in case your starter gets hurt. [They can] pay him to come out of “retirement.’ ,” one anonymous team executive texted to Schefter (on Twitter).

Meanwhile, Jane Slater of NFL Network (Twitter link) hears from one source that it’s a soft retirement for Romo. If the Cowboys ever really needed him, he would consider a return. As CBS and FOX (and possibly NBC) vie for him, Romo may push for an opt-out clause that would allow him to come back to the NFL whenever he chooses.

Broncos, Texans Won’t Trade For Tony Romo

April 3rd, 2017 at 6:51pm CST by Zachary Links

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has opened up the lines of communication for a Tony Romo deal to go down. So far, that has not spurred any action. The Broncos and Texans still will not trade for Romo, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

Instead, it seems that both teams will wait to see if Romo is released by Dallas. From there, they can freely negotiate with Romo (if they choose) without sacrificing draft compensation. They should also be able to sign him at a cheaper rate that his current contract calls for.

Romo does not want to play out the season as Dak Prescott‘s backup it seems unlikely that Jones would force him to stay. That doesn’t leave the Cowboys with an awful lot of options. At this point, it’s the smart play for Denver and Houston to bide their time and see what happens. Even if Romo reaches the open market, the Broncos might not be willing to go all out for him given that they have two quality QBs already under contract.

Texans Not Interested In Tony Romo Trade?

April 3rd, 2017 at 2:45pm CST by Zachary Links

Tony Romo has long been linked to the Texans, but it sounds as though the Texans do not want to trade for him. Or, at minimum, they are working hard to give off that impression. The Cowboys’ asking price remains too high for Houston’s liking and they are still not interested in working out a deal with Jerry Jones, Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com (Twitter link) hears.

With a talented defense already in place, a quality quarterback might be the team’s biggest need as they look to position themselves as contenders for 2017. As it stands, Tom Savage is the team’s No. 1 QB. Romo offers far more experience, but he also comes with injury concerns and a bloated contract. It’s also not clear what Jones is seeking in a trade and it’s possible he could place a premium on an intra-state swap. It would make sense for the Texans to have sincere interest in the veteran, but they might also be better served by waiting things out to see if Dallas might release him instead.

Lately, Broncos GM John Elway has been saying that he is content to go into the season with Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch as his top quarterbacks. In theory, that could leave the Texans as the most likely landing spot for Romo, but right now they are unwilling to play ball with the Cowboys.

Cowboys Open Tony Romo Trade Talks

April 3rd, 2017 at 2:11pm CST by Zachary Links

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has notified all NFL GMs they are permitted to contact Tony Romo or his agent to schedule a workout, visit, or physical, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter links). However, Dallas informed clubs they are “limited to conversations concerning (Romo’s) 2017-19 NFL player contract,” in order to facilitate a trade. Jones, it appears, is trying to safeguard against a team negotiating a potential contract with Romo if he were to be released.

Lately, it’s been hard to get a read on what will happen with Romo. Early indications were that he would be released, allowing him to sign with a contending club like the Broncos or Texans. In recent weeks, Jones has apparently had a change of heart. The Cowboys first want to see if they can get something of substance in return for their longtime star. Romo also has serious interest from both CBS and FOX. CBS, apparently, is interested in giving him Phil Simms’ high-paying and prestigious job as the network’s top NFL color commentator.

Romo last played full-time during the 2014 season, when he completed a league-high 69.9% of his passes for 3,705 yards and 34 touchdowns against just nine interceptions. Romo has three years left remaining on his current deal, and an acquiring club would take on base salaries of $14MM, $19.5MM, and $20.5MM over the next three respective campaigns. A trade would also leave the Cowboys will roughly $20MM in dead money.

NFC Notes: Romo, Cowboys, Panthers

March 30th, 2017 at 8:49pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Cowboys should bring an end to the Tony Romo saga by April 17, the first day of their offseason workout program, opines Joel Corry of CBS Sports. If Romo is still on their roster then, it would behoove him to report because of a clause in his contract stating his base salary will decrease by $500K if he doesn’t complete at least 90 percent of offseason workouts. But the Cowboys shouldn’t want Romo to report, observes Corry, who points out that both his $14MM salary and $24.7MM for 2017 would become guaranteed if he were to suffer a serious injury in OTAs. While the Cowboys would like to trade Romo, it’s doubtful Romo would renegotiate his contract to facilitate a deal, according to Corry, noting that his three-year, $54MM pact isn’t unreasonable money for a starting QB.

Latest On Tony Romo’s CBS Offer

March 29th, 2017 at 3:08pm CST by Zachary Links

As of this writing, we know of four potential suitors for Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo: the Broncos, Texans, CBS, and FOX. It seems that one of those TV offers could be even more lucrative and appealing than originally thought. CBS is eyeing Romo as a potential replacement for Phil Simms in the broadcast booth, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

Simms has been the color commentator alongside Jim Nantz in CBS’ “A-Team” package for the last nine seasons, meaning that the duo gets assigned to the network’s most important game every week. Going back to his time at NBC in the mid-1990s, Simms has been an top level color man for more than two decades. At this point, Simms has earned far more in the broadcast booth than he ever did as an NFL quarterback. In total, he has been involved in the broadcast of seven different Super Bowls.

If Romo were to immediately step into Simms’ gig, he would be taking on one of the top jobs in the entire industry with a salary to match. If Romo’s heart is not totally set on playing, this opportunity could be appealing enough to make him forget about suiting up for Dallas, Houston, Denver, or any other NFL team in 2017.