Cowboys News: Possible Tony Romo Destinations Increasing Almost Daily

It only takes two teams to create a market for Tony Romo, and there certainly are more than two teams with needs at QB. In fact, there may be up to nine.

Jason La Canfora: Don’t Think The Cowboys Will Release Romo - CBS Sports Radio
La Canfora has seen and read the reports that the Cowboys are going to release Tony Romo, but he's not buying it.

"I haven’t been told by anybody – and there’s many people close to him that I trust – that Tony’s expecting anything or that Tony anticipates anything or Tony’s demanding anything."

"It only takes one team to make a trade," La Canfora continued, "and if you have two teams interested, then you have a robust market. I think they can get a third or a fourth for Tony. And look, Tony is not trying to drive the thing. Tony is not trying to be a dictator. Tony has teams he’d rather be with than not. The four teams he’s most interested in are Houston, Kansas City, Denver and Arizona. It doesn’t mean those are the only four teams he’ll end up with. There’s a lot that has to happen here before we get to a point that a trade is made, but I do believe there is very legitimate potential to at least get something of note for him."

Six possible landing spots for Tony Romo - Jared Dubin, CBSSports.com
CBS looks at the six teams that might be in play for Tony Romo. The list contains the usual suspects in Denver, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, and even Dallas, as well as a bonus team in Kansas City:

The Kansas City Chiefs, who like the Broncos and Texans have an excellent defense, could use an upgrade at quarterback to take them to the next level. Andy Reid has done great work with Alex Smith and other below-average quarterback options in the past, and Romo would likely be the most talented QB he’s ever worked with during his head coaching career.

Kansas City has a good line and a bunch of playmakers, so the fit makes sense. They could save $9.4 million against the cap by cutting Smith, or they could attempt to get draft compensation from another team by putting him on the market. There’d be a lot of moving parts involved in getting Romo to KC, but the payoff could be huge.

Tony Romo's next NFL team? Here are 8 logical options for Cowboys QB - Nate Davis, USA Today
Not to be outdone, Davis ups the ante to eight teams, and adds the Jets, Bills, and Vikings. Here's his take on the Jets.

Given current options Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg, who didn't play as a rookie, there's an obvious need here. And despite a 5-11 record in 2016, there's also talent. Romo could join far less-capable offenses than one that features Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker, Matt Forte and Bilal Powell. And despite a poor showing last year, the Jets defense could easily transform into a unit better than any that backed Romo in Dallas. The Jets also have a history of acquiring quarterbacks (Boomer Esiason, Vinny Testaverde, Brett Favre) in the twilight of their careers.

Browns eyeing Romo as franchise QB? - Ryan Wilson, CBSSports.com
Even the Browns could be in play for Romo, given that RG3, who signed with Cleveland last March, went 1-4 in five starts during the 2016 season.

And while RG3 might want another chance to prove his doubters wrong, Cleveland.com beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot thinks the Browns will release Griffin before March 11, when he’s due a $750,000 roster bonus, not to mention the $6 million salary for 2017. Put another way: The Browns are in the market for their next franchise quarterback.

Which brings us back to Cabot, who writes that Plan B for Cleveland could include the Bills’ Tyrod Taylor, the Bengals’ AJ McCarron and the Cowboys’ Tony Romo.

2016 rookie grades: Falcons, Cowboys, Chiefs earn high marks - NFL.com
Bucky Brooks and Conor Orr graded the five best rookie classes from the 2016 season, and both the Falcons and Cowboys earned an "A+".

Whenever a team lands the Offensive Rookie of the Year and the NFL's leading rusher in the same draft, the personnel department and coaching staff deserve kudos for their outstanding identification and developmental plan. Dak Prescott rose from QB3 status to Pro Bowl playmaker while showing better passing skills, poise and leadership ability than many anticipated. Most impressively, he posted a 100-plus passer rating (104.9) and a stellar 23:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio on the way to notching 13 wins -- tying Ben Roethlisberger's NFL record for wins by a rookie starter. Not to be outdone, Ezekiel Elliott finished as the NFL's rushing leader, racking up 1,631 yards in 15 regular-season starts. The electric playmaker set the table for the offense with his hard-nosed running style between the tackles. Maliek Collins and Anthony Brown made key contributions on a defense that exceeded expectations.

To get a 'war daddy', it will cost the Dallas Cowboys - Todd Archeer, ESPN
When you’re picking No. 28 in the first round, it’s hard to find a war daddy, Archer writes.

The odds of the Dallas Cowboys finding a war daddy at No. 28 are not great, even if this is supposedly a good year for pass-rushers.

If Jones wants his war daddy, he will have to spend money in free agency or make some kind of trade up in the first round or for a proven commodity.

They don’t come cheap.

Neither does the chance to win a Super Bowl.

Cowboys free agents most likely to return: Why Barry Church should be Dallas' top priority - David Moore, SportsDay
Moore completes his countdown of the top five Cowboys free agents likely to return, and tops it with Barry Church at No. 1.

No. 1: Barry Church, S
No. 2: Brandon Carr, CB
No. 3: Terrell McClain, DT
No. 4: Darren McFadden, RB
No. 5: Kellen Moore, QB

Church is the unquestioned leader of the back end of the Cowboys defense. He's a physical player who is outstanding against the run and has improved noticeably in coverage.

Church isn't a star, but he's much more than a solid contributor. He's a leader and an integral part of the Cowboys defense. He would be difficult to replace.

He should be at the top of the list of free agents the Cowboys must retain.

Free Agent Overview: Kellen Moore Could Once Again Provide QB Depth - David Helman, Dallas Cowboys
Broaddus likes Moore more than Mark Sanchez, and the Cowboys may feel the same way.

The front office had a plan for Kellen Moore -- but that went out the window quickly. I could see a situation where they bring him back on the roster instead of Mark Sanchez. As good as both were for Dak Prescott in his development, Moore is a better player than Sanchez if something were to happen to Prescott. Moore doesn’t have the same arm talent as Sanchez, but where he is clearly better is in his football intelligence. His touch and accuracy on certain routes is where it needs to be. Moore is not going to power the ball down the field, but the routes that require quarterback movement, such as boots and waggles, he will be able to execute. Where Moore is also an improvement over Sanchez is in his poise, anticipation and general awareness. In watching Moore, I believe that there is less of a chance of that critical mistake which we’ve seen in the past from Sanchez. I could see the front office allowing the decision to re-sign come down to a call by the coaching staff and which guy they feel the most comfortable with. If that is the case, my money is on Kellen Moore.

Twitter mailbag: Is Jonathan Cooper in Cowboys' plan for 2017? - Todd Archer, ESPN
Archer tackles a terrific reader question:

Q: What's the word from the Cowboys on Jonathan Cooper? Any chance they'll try to bring him back for 2017?

@toddarcher: Absolutely they will try, but I think it will come down to opportunity for Cooper. He enjoyed his short time with the Cowboys. They enjoyed him. But if he can find a place where he will start, I think he would take that opportunity. With La'el Collins returning to health, there’s not an open spot on the line. The Cowboys would like to bring Cooper back for the same reason they put the second-round tender on Ronald Leary last year: They would like to have insurance in case of injury. One spot where Cooper would offer more of an advantage than Leary is that he can play center. That would likely get him on the gameday roster as the swing interior lineman.

Cowboys sign free agent guard Ryan Seymour - SportsDay Staff
This could just be a coincidence, but if you just got your hopes up on Jonathan Cooper, you may want to temper those expectations.

The Cowboys have re-signed former Vanderbilt guard Ryan Seymour.

The Cowboys waived Seymour before the Cowboys' divisional round playoff in favor of offensive lineman Jonathan Cooper.

VIDEO: One Next Gen Stat separates Prescott from Wentz - NFL.com
NFL.com offers up the "inside scoop" on how to explain why Dak Prescott had more success than his fellow rookie QBs, Jared Goff and Carson Wentz.

Carson Wentz had a passer rating of 47.2 on passes of 20+ air yards, the third lowest in the league. Dak Prescott had a 111.3 rating on the same type of passes, the fifth-highest rating in the league.

Who would you rather have as your team's quarterback for the next five years? - Football Outsiders
FO hand out a long list of awards in their 14th annual Football Outsiders Awards, which are voted on by the FO readers. A special question this year to gauge the opinions on the league's current crop of young starters caught my eye:

Who would you rather have as your team's quarterback for the next five years?

36.2% Marcus Mariota, TEN 32.5% Dak Prescott, DAL 14.8% Jameis Winston, TB 10.5% Jimmy Garoppolo, NE

5.4% Carson Wentz, PHI 0.3% Cody Kessler, CLE 0.3% Paxton Lynch, DEN 0.0% Jared Goff, LARM

Marcus Mariota gets the edge over Dak Prescott partly due to his higher draft stock, partly because he has two years' experience to Prescott's one, and partly because he is probably the best player on his own offense, while Prescott is perhaps the fourth or fifth-best offensive player in Dallas.

Also -- zero votes for the first overall draft pick in 2016, a player for whom the Rams traded six draft picks, including two first-rounders. Ouch.