Neither team nor player have said anything that anyone would regret, yet. But the tension is there, and it seems to be building.
On one side, the Cowboys have decided -- after telling Tony Romo that he’ll be released -- that they want to finagle a draft pick for him. On the other side, Romo still wants to be released.
David Moore of the Dallas Morning News reports that nothing is expected to happen this weekend, and that “it’s optimistic” to believe the situation will be resolved within the next week. In other words, the Cowboys are content to sit and wait.
Meanwhile, Adam Schefter of ESPN (who floated the notion on Friday night that FOX wants to hire Romo, which likely was CAA’s way of suggesting Romo has a viable alternative to playing) says this about the situation: “Based off multiple people inside [the] league, it would be a major upset if Dallas is able to trade Tony Romo. Cowboys will have to release him.”
Jerry Jones would say he doesn’t “have to” do anything, especially not for now. With the league meetings starting in two weeks, the smart move is to sit and wait for everyone to go to Arizona.
It’s unclear why Jones changed his mind about releasing Romo, but there’s a good chance that the decision by the Texans to unload Brock Osweiler had something to do with it. Instantly, the Texans created a need for themselves at quarterback. If they’re willing to cough up a second-round pick to get a quarterback they don’t want, surely they’ll do something to get the quarterback they do want. If they actually do want Romo.
John McClain of the Houston Chronicle says that they’re interested, but that they won’t trade for him. Maybe the Texans will feel differently after thinking through the options, and after they come to grips with the fact that they currently have Tom Savage and Brandon Weeden.
While it won’t be easy to negotiate a trade that properly balances the possibility of another major injury in the preseason and Romo staying healthy and winning a Super Bowl, he surely has some value in trade. Although I’ve been advocating for months that the Cowboys should simply release him, I can’t blame them for trying to get something from the Texans or the Broncos, especially now that the Texans don’t have the guy they anointed as the starter a year ago.
The dynamic changes if/when Romo ever decides to go public with any of the frustration he may be feeling about being told one thing and having something else happen. For now, though, there’s no reason for either side to flare up. If a trade doesn’t happen in Arizona and the Cowboys still refuse to release him, that’s when Romo should go ham.