Romo will return
The Tony Romo Hot Stove League was stoked to a consistent boil in the past week, fed by anybody’s guesses as to where the Dallas Cowboys’ former ace pitcher would report for work next season.
Or even if he would want to work next season, except in the broadcast booth.
On Sunday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported, citing a league source, that Romo remains determined to play in 2017 and has no plans to retire.
Radio reporter Mike Fisher said Friday that “a Romo retirement — and the acceptance of a lucrative TV network job as an analyst — remains in play,” according to a source, who said any speculation is premature at this point.
On Friday, the Kansas City Chiefs were definitely in the Romo speculation stew, from a report by NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. The Chiefs are disenchanted with Alex Smith to the extent that coach Andy Reid would consider Romo. Rapoport, via NFL.com: “It was noteworthy when Andy Reid was noncommittal to Alex Smith. They’ve made a QB trade in the past, doing so for Alex Smith. They’d have to be considered someone who would be a possibility.”
The beauty of the thinking is that the Chiefs would trade Smith, negating much of the hit from taking on Romo’s $24.7 million salary cap. A team trading for Romo would be responsible for his $14 million salary. Smith has already played out the guaranteed portion of his contract, CBS Sports reported. Smith provided the Chiefs 172 yards passing in their 18-16 divisional playoff loss to the Steelers.
The Chiefs scenario followed a midweek report from CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora that Romo had four teams on his wish list: the Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos and Chiefs.