Will Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys work a trade together?

The Dallas Cowboys will be trying to figure out what to do with their veteran quarterback Tony Romo in the next few weeks. What role will Romo play?

The elephant in the Dallas Cowboys’ room is obviously the future of veteran quarterback Tony Romo. It was reported this week that Romo is apparently willing to massage his contract so that the Cowboys would find it easier to trade him.

A conflicting report also claimed that Romo would rather be released with enough time to speak to potential suitors for his services. A third scenario in this situation is that he is designated as a post June 1st cut, which would likely be the easiest scenario for the Cowboys front office.

A potential trade for Romo will probably come to a head at the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine in early March, where team owners and general managers will gather in one place, in person. That would likely be where interested parties could inquire more discreetly about getting a possible trade in place.

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones has notoriously said his front office will approach Romo with “kid gloves” this offseason. However, I believe that may not be in the team’s best interest. A trade of some sort would be beneficial for the team, however it might be tough to swing a deal that could work in Romo’s favor.

Realistically, if the only reason Romo wants to be released early on is so he can meet with the few teams that can afford him the Cowboys could save him the time and the effort by just trading him. The Cowboys veteran will not find a front office looking to build their franchise around an aging and injury prone quarterback (at least, not yet).

Romo could be supremely effective especially in a pass friendly offense and still should be considered a starting caliber quarterback in the NFL. Plenty of teams have a desperate need at the quarterback position and the Cowboys can take advantage of that.

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The last thing any rebuilding team wants is to get into a bidding war with the handful of other franchises looking to acquire Romo’s services. They could likely jump to the head of the line if they offer to swap first picks and potentially an additional pick for the chance to have Tony be their starting signal caller.

The only player that could hurt Romo’s trade value is New England Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo but even that is somewhat of a stretch. The market for the Cowboys veteran should be fairly large for teams rebuilding and some that are even looking to make a deep playoff run.

When you think about it, Romo should really only have four options in terms of the places he would desire to go, Houston, Arizona, Dallas, and Kansas City. All of those destinations are or are close to his current home in Dallas in which his family resides. Cold weather destinations are likely out due to his bad back and injury history.

Unless Romo knows something we don’t (which is entirely possible) there are not a lot of fantastic options if Dallas does not get a trade done. I mean would he realistically want to go to a franchise that would rely on a free agent quarterback in the first place?

Teams like that such as the New York Jets, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, and Buffalo Bills are not only all cold weather cities but they are at least a season away from any meaningful playoff run. There is a good chance if Romo heads to Kansas City, he could be the starter coming out of the gate but the Chiefs have continued to back their starter Alex Smith early in the offseason.

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The best destinations for Romo are likely the best teams for Dallas to trade (Houston and Kansas City) with as they will value him higher than other franchises. If Romo hits free agency, he will get a ton of attention but not necessarily from competitive franchises.

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