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Despite the protestations of Jerry Jones, who seemed to believe there may a be a future for Tony Romo in Dallas, the Cowboys have obviously started preparing for life after Romo when they brought former Browns' QB Josh McCown in for a visit today.
So how much longer has Romo got as a Cowboy? Not much, according to this tweet from Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.
Hearing there is a very strong likelihood that barring a strong trade offer the Cowboys release Tony Romo tomorrow. Let the chase begin
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) March 8, 2017
The Cowboys were still holding out hope that they'd get something in return for Romo, but if La Canfora's report is anything to go by, that hope may be waning pretty quickly.
Jon Machota backs up this report.
Source has confirmed, Tony Romo will be released by the Cowboys tomorrow
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) March 8, 2017
Releasing Romo creates $5.1M of cap space immediately. Alternatively, and this would be the much more likely option, the team could designate a Romo a June 1 cut, which would create much more cap space in 2017.
As a June 1 cut, Romo's cap hit in 2017 would only be $10.7, thus creating a cool $14 million cap saving in 2017, even if that saving would come with $8.9 million worth of dead money in 2018.
Once released, Romo would be free to choose his own team. Like all vested veterans (players with four accrued seasons in the NFL), Romo is not subject to waivers and will become a free agent immediately upon his release and can sign with any team of his choosing.
The Broncos have long been linked to Romo, along with every other QB-needy team in the NFL, but a report from Mike Klis, Broncos reporter for 9News in Denver, says the Broncos would only be interested if he is released. The Texans are the other team that has been widely linked to Romo.
Tony Romo is 37 years old, has had multiple injuries and has only played in four games over the last two seasons. That's a risk that will have to be accounted for in any contract Romo signs eventually signs.
Many fans had hoped that the Cowboys would get some kind of compensation for Romo, but it now looks like the Cowboys won't get anything if they release him.
And so Romo's time with the Cowboys looks to with a whimper, and not with the bang many fans had hoped for since the former undrafted free agent captured the imagination of Cowboys fans more than a decade ago.