Dallas Cowboys: Is Tony Romo still the back-up quarterback?

Tony 0Romo was released and announced his retirement on April 4th, 2017, but do the Dallas Cowboys still have him second on the depth chart?

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is now pursuing a career in broadcasting. CBS has tabbed the gunslinger to be on their number one crew with well-known announcer Jim Nantz. While all the games Romo will be announcing are AFC teams, he will have a couple of chances when the Cowboys take on the AFC West.

In 2016 Romo began the season on the sideline, nursing a back injury he suffered in preseason against the Seattle Seahawks. This opened the door for rookie quarterback Dak Prescott to take the reins and never let go.

Prescott led the team to a 13-3 record which helped them earn a first round bye and home field advantage in the playoffs. With all the accomplishments and stats, it was impossible to turn the team back over to Romo.

With the future of the team lying in Prescott’s hands there was no room left for Romo. His extremely large cap hit made it impossible to keep him on the roster as a highly overpaid backup.

Romo’s ultimate departure from the team came in suspicious fashion. The Denver Broncos and Houston Texans were reportedly interested, yet Romo was still not traded. Upon the opening of free agency, again Romo littered reports as rumors swirled the Cowboys were to release Romo.

The release was rumored to be on the day free agency began. Day one came and passed, rumors turned to the following week as his release, still nothing. Eventually, no NFL expert knew the day Romo was to be released only referring to it as “any day now”.

Finally Romo’s release was announced, yet no one expected it to be with his retirement. Certainly experts couldn’t have predicted he would take a job at CBS the same day was released and retired.

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Now there are some saying owner Jerry Jones orchestrated Romo’s move to CBS. Jones’ fear of Romo playing for the Texans fueled the owner to take charge. The Texans seemed to be putting themselves in position to acquire Tony after releasing quarterback Brock Osweiler, only a year into his four-year $72 million contract.

CBS offering Romo the job with Jim Nantz was almost to good to be true. Legendary Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman even had to earn his rank at FOX. It was almost as if CBS gave Romo an offer he couldn’t refuse.

If all this doesn’t seem fishy, how about the fact the Cowboys haven’t signed a veteran back-up quarterback? Kellen Moore is a smart kid but most will say he lacks the skill to be an NFL quarterback. This was obvious when the Cowboys drafted Prescott in the fourth round last year even after having Moore on the roster.

Maybe the Cowboys do have faith in Moore. Why is it Romo hasn’t officially filed paperwork to retire. Since April he has only “announced” his retirement.

Maybe Romo hasn’t had time considering the golf tournaments he has been attending? But why does Romo still have a locker? Reports say Romo still has his name tag above his locker even after other players have been removed. Is Jerry Jones keeping it for sentimental value?

Next: Should the Cowboys sign Johnny Manziel as their backup QB?

It may be all a coincidence. Yet the moment Dak has an injury that forces him to miss significant time, I guarantee Tony Romo will be wearing #9 the following week. If the Dallas Cowboys want to keep Super Bowl hopes alive, they’ll have Romo ready to go in case of an emergency.

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