Texans should pull the trigger on Romo deal
How much is Tony Romo really worth in a trade to a quarterback-starved NFL team?
The Romo staring contest continues. Clubs apparently refuse to engage in serious trade talks with the Dallas Cowboys, because at some point soon the Cowboys will just release him. Right?
Apparently the Cowboys are holding out, waiting for a club in a QB quandary — the Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers or New York Jets — to make an acceptable trade offer.
The Texans arguably make the most sense, because their roster is seen as the most Super Bowl-ready and because their vacancy at QB screams loudest.
A formidable trade obstacle is the last three years of Romo’s latest honkin’ contract call for him to be paid US$14 million this year (a bargain for a starter) but US$19.5 million next year and US$20.5 million in 2019.
This for a guy who turns 37 next month and, health-wise, has been practically falling apart the past two years, what with a repeatedly broken left collarbone (since surgically repaired) and nagging back issues that culminated with last year’s latest fractured vertebrae (since healed).
A QB-desperate club, however, must ask itself this: How often does a passer of Romo’s quality become available? Answer: Hardly ever. If he is back to full health, an argument easily can be made that, for an otherwise playoff-ready team, Romo is every bit worth a first-round pick.
As insurance, a trading team could — and should — insist the first-round pick it surrenders be conditional. That is, if Romo doesn’t start X number of games in 2017, the Cowboys’ compensa- tion drops to a second-rounder. If Houston gave up a secondround pick two weeks ago just to get rid of failed QB Brock Osweiler and the rest of his US$72-million contract, how can it not be willing to dispense with another second-rounder — or even a first — to get the cross-state QB stud they clearly need and crave?
Do it, Houston. Before Denver or some other team does.