Texans should pull trigger on Romo deal
How much is Tony Romo really worth in a trade to a quarterback-starved NFL team?
A lower-round draft pick? A mid-round pick? How about a second-rounder? Or even a first?
Or, as currently seems the case, nothing at all?
As the second full week of NFL free agency quietly winds down, the Romo staring contest continues.
Clubs still stricken by a paucity of passable passers continue to not blink, apparently refusing so far to engage in serious trade discussions with Romo’s team, the Dallas Cowboys. Because at some point soon the Cowboys surely will just release him outright. Right?
That’s what the Cowboys reportedly were set to do two weeks ago, as a lovely parting gift to their former longtime, mostly fantastic yet occasionally enigmatic starting passer (rookie phenom Dak Prescott’s shocking top-flight play last fall rendered Romo dispensable).
But Romo remains in Dallas, his NFL home since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2003.
Apparently the Cowboys are holding out, waiting for a clubin-QB-quandary — namely, the Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets — to make an acceptable trade offer.
The latter three clubs don’t have competitive rosters and perhaps wouldn’t want a longin-the-tooth QB to rebuild around. That’s why the Texans make the most sense, because their roster is seen as perhaps the most Super Bowl-ready of the bunch and because their vacancy at QB screams loudest.
Denver, the other perceived top suitor for Romo, possesses a pair of perhaps promising Padawan passers in Trevor Siemian (entering Year 3) and Paxton Lynch (entering Year 2). But GM John Elway has a talent-packed roster only one year removed from a Super Bowl championship. It would be a top contender again in 2017 if it can get strong QB play.
A formidable trade obstacle is that the last three years of Romo’s latest 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. That’s a US$54-million commitment over three years.
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).
Romo ended 2014 — his last full season as starter before the past two injury-plagued years — with the second-best career passer rating in NFL history (97.6).
If he is back to full health, an argument easily can be made that, for an otherwise playoff-ready team such as Houston or Dallas, Romo is every bit worth a first-round pick.
Do it, Houston. Before Denver or some other team does.