Tony Romo stopped short of declaring himself 100 percent retired during an introductory conference call with CBS, but said he’s committed to a life in the broadcast booth.
That means it’s time for the Texans to stop giving consideration to the possibility that he’ll be in the mix for their quarterback job this year and start moving forward with other plans. During an appearance on PFT Live from the owners meetings last week, Texans coach Bill O’Brien said that the team has discussed free agent Colin Kaepernick and that it would be tough to bring in a quarterback after the offseason program with designs on starting him.
That would make now the time to sign a veteran, but the team could also go the draft route to add an option to the Tom Savage/Brandon Weeden tandem that is currently in place. In another conversation last week, however, O’Brien suggested that he wasn’t looking to go the rookie starter route.
“I think that there’s no substitute for experience,” O’Brien said, via ESPN.com. “So, I think it’s hard to ask a guy to come in straight from college and Day One he’s a starter on your team. But I know that there are some really good quarterbacks in this draft that we’re looking at, and we’ve met with a lot of them. We’re excited about continuing to get to know them. But, I just think for me as a general rule, that’s tough to start them as a Day One guy.”
O’Brien said that before Romo’s shift to the broadcast booth became public knowledge and the pre-draft season is always a time for half-truths and smokescreens, but, at face value, his comments point to Tom Savage as their likely starter come September.