Assuming Tony Romo wants to continue playing football, the veteran quarterback will likely be doing it for a different team in 2017. The question is which team that will be, and all indications are that Romo has essentially been given a no-trade clause.
On Monday’s edition of “NFL Insiders” on ESPN Radio, Adam Schefter said the Cowboys will likely be willing to sacrifice compensation in order to trade Romo to a team he wants to play for.
“I think Tony Romo will decide that landing spot more than the Cowboys themselves because they want to do right by him,” Schefter said. “They want to make sure he’s happy. He will identify that team and the Cowboys will go to that team to try and facilitate a trade. They will not get as much compensation because of the fact that it’s going to be where Tony wants to go.”
Jerry Jones recently hinted that he believes he can convince Romo to stick around in Dallas, but having a backup quarterback on the roster with an average annual salary of $18 million would essentially put the Cowboys in salary cap jail.
“With the numbers being what they are in his contract — the highest salary cap number of any quarterback in the league — and Dak Prescott taking that job, you cannot keep him,” Schefter added.
Mark Dominik, a former NFL executive who now works for ESPN, speculates that the New York Jets and Chicago Bears — both teams with head coaches who are looking to save their jobs in their third years — could potentially be suitors for Romo. There have been indications that Romo already has his sights set on one particular team, but the interest may not be mutual.
