Tony Romo Trade Rumors: Cowboys might have to cut veteran quarterback

Unless the Cowboys are comfortable having their backup quarterback hold a $24.7 million cap number in 2017 (highly doubtful!), it’s painfully obvious Dallas will have to move on from Tony Romo this offseason. But despite the fact there’s been some talk of a robust market for the 36-year-old, a new report indicates a trade might be unlikely.

According to a ESPN’s Ed Werder, Romo is expecting to be released and not traded. Though trading Romo would obviously be ideal for the Cowboys, it’s not crazy to think they might end up having to cut him instead.

First, it remains to be seen what kind of trade market there would truly be for Romo. He turns 37 in April and he’s struggled to stay healthy over the past two seasons. And it’s not like he’s had injuries where the issue just goes away. There are lingering concerns about his durability moving forward.

Another complication in the Cowboys trading Romo is the sentimental value. NFL teams will almost always look to do what’s best for the team instead of the player, as they should, but sometimes there are special situations. Romo has a deep relationship with the Cowboys’ front office so it doesn’t seem likely they would ship him to an awful situation. (Think of how Andy Reid avoided trading Donovan McNabb to the Raiders because Big Red cared about him. Although sending Donny to Washington didn’t seem much better.)

And so it’s very possible the Cowboys might have to get rid of the best quarterback on their roster (yeah, I said it) without getting anything in return. Not to mention cutting Romo would create $19.6 million in dead money. Lol Cowboys.

Can you imagine what it would be like if Romo somehow stays healthy and plays well for his next team while Dak Prescott struggles? Prescott clearly had an impressive rookie season, but we all still remember Nick Foles once going 27-2. Or even if Prescott plays well again and the Cowboys make it to the Super Bowl (dear God) but lose to, say, Romo’s Houston Texans? That would make for incredible schadenfreude for Eagles fans. Some Cowboys fans would undoubtedly like to see Romo do well, which makes everything even better. Dallas fans would actually have to be happy their team lost the Super Bowl.

OK, so I’m getting ahead of myself here, and now that I just wrote all of that ... Dallas is totally going to trade him for something valuable, aren’t they? Hopefully not. Hopefully Werder’s report is true and the Cowboys will indeed cut Romo. Because then we can all laugh at Dallas.