Thoughts on a Tony Romo for JJ Watt trade?

[Tbonewannabe]

If the Texans traded watt to the cowboys it would be for Dak and somebody else not romo. Romo will get traded for about a fifth round pick just to get him off the payroll.

At this point, the Cowboys are more likely to trade Dez, Whitten, Zeke, and Stephen Jones before they trade Dak. Right now Dak is probably a top 5 player in popularity. He is becoming the face of the NFL and Jerry isn't dumb enough to trade that. If anything, Jerry knows promotion.

[smootness]

At this point, the Cowboys are more likely to trade Dez, Whitten, Zeke, and Stephen Jones before they trade Dak. Right now Dak is probably a top 5 player in popularity. He is becoming the face of the NFL and Jerry isn't dumb enough to trade that. If anything, Jerry knows promotion.

Of course not. But in terms of value, that's what it would be. Not Romo.

[Johnson85]

The Cowboys want the contract off the books. Trading for a similarly overpaid player does them no good.

If they can cut Romo, would they not be able to cut whoever they traded for? I know the specific contract matters but I would think Romo would have as much guaranteed as anybody they would trade for, so if they're willing to cut Romo surely they can cut whoever teh acquire if they need to.

[HereComesTheSpiral]

Is there not an equivalent defensive player somewhere out there? Somebody slightly pass their prime and/or injury prone, with a bad contract, but that still can offer a lot of value, even if there is some risk/reward to go with it?

Or hell, isn't there a team with an overpaid player that needs to be cut? Package that player with some mid round draft picks and trade Dallas for Romo and some later round draft picks? Seems like enough teams need a QB that there would be a mutually beneficial trade to be made somewhere.

Mario Williams will more than likely be cut by Miami this offseason. He fits the old, past his prime, and cheap.

[whatever]

The Cowboys are going to eat the exact same amount of money toward the cap whether they trade or cut Romo, so at least they get something in return for trading him.

Problem is, other teams know they're going to have to cut him anyway, so why offer anything in a trade when you know he's going to hit the open market soon. Also by trading for him you then inherit his 14m base salary for 17', 19M for 18', and 20M for 19' (although they could release him or renegotiate his contract).

Only reason you would trade to get him is so you don't have to compete with other teams on the open market. Seems to me if he hits the open market he'll get to choose the best spot/team like Peyton did with the Broncos a few years back.

From the Cowboys perspective, I trade him to a bad team that offers the best return.

[smootness]

If they can cut Romo, would they not be able to cut whoever they traded for? I know the specific contract matters but I would think Romo would have as much guaranteed as anybody they would trade for, so if they're willing to cut Romo surely they can cut whoever teh acquire if they need to.

Yes, you're right. But what's the point of that? The argument was that they could get a similarly overpaid player and then play them.

[HSVDawg]

A healthy romo is much better than you give him credit for. In '14, he put up a qb rating of 113.2, which was the 7th best for a season ever and better than Brady's this year. He has a career qb rating of 97.1 which is 4th all time in NFL history. Health is a major concern though

You are right that he was very good in 2014. But that was 3 years and two major injuries ago. Expecting him to perform even close to that level at 38 years old and also remain healthy is fool hardy.

[HSVDawg]

The Cowboys are going to eat the exact same amount of money toward the cap whether they trade or cut Romo, so at least they get something in return for trading him

But they will have a lot more options and a lot more bargaining power in free agency. If they trade him, they are limited to just a few teams to negotiate with that could use a high risk aging QB for a playoff / SB run (maybe 4-5 teams at most), and only the players or picks those teams are willing to give up. With free agency they have their pick of the litter and don't have to go through somebody else's front office. Make no mistake, they will definitely shop him on the trade block first before they do anything because you don't know what you can get until you ask (and because draft picks aren't available through free agency). But there is a very high likelihood that what teams are willing to give up won't jive with what the Cowboys want, so I think them just releasing him is more likely.

[msstate7]

You are right that he was very good in 2014. But that was 3 years and two major injuries ago. Expecting him to perform even close to that level at 38 years old and also remain healthy is fool hardy.

Which is why JJ watt talk and such is foolish; but if I can get romo for a 3-5th round pick, I'm all over it if I'm the Vikings, cardinals, Texans, or broncos.

ETA... in extremely (extremely!!!) limited action this year, romo showed good arm strength and accuracy. None of the 4 teams I listed can win a super Bowl as is, but romo could possibly do it... therefore he's worth a mid round pick imo

[HSVDawg]

Which is why JJ watt talk and such is foolish; but if I can get romo for a 3-5th round pick, I'm all over it if I'm the Vikings, cardinals, Texans, or broncos.

Of course, but Dallas probably wouldn't go for anything below 3rd round (I wouldn't think) unless it was a team that was still a few years away from making a run. They'd be better off putting him on the market and letting non contender teams like the Bears, 49ers, Jets, etc drive up the price and probably get him. If they traded him to a Minnesota or a Denver and somehow Dallas faced off with them in the SB and they only gave up a 5th rounder, that would be a terrible trade for Dallas.

[smootness]

Of course, but Dallas probably wouldn't go for anything below 3rd round (I wouldn't think) unless it was a team that was still a few years away from making a run. They'd be better off putting him on the market and letting non contender teams like the Bears, 49ers, Jets, etc drive up the price and probably get him. If they traded him to a Minnesota or a Denver and somehow Dallas faced off with them in the SB and they only gave up a 5th rounder, that would be a terrible trade for Dallas.

If Dallas is facing Minnesota in the NFCCG or Denver in the SB even with Romo as their QB, I think the Cowboys would feel pretty confident about their chances.

But you bring up a good point. They may think twice about letting Houston have him for this reason. Honestly, they could just keep him around for another year. It would only be an extra $5 million toward this year's cap to do that, and it would be a far lesser hit next year. But paying that much for a backup QB is still dumb, so if I were them, I'd look to deal him to anybody lower than Houston for pretty much anything I could get.

[HSVDawg]

If Dallas is facing Minnesota in the NFCCG or Denver in the SB even with Romo as their QB, I think the Cowboys would feel pretty confident about their chances.

But you bring up a good point. They may think twice about letting Houston have him for this reason. Honestly, they could just keep him around for another year. It would only be an extra $5 million toward this year's cap to do that, and it would be a far lesser hit next year. But paying that much for a backup QB is still dumb, so if I were them, I'd look to deal him to anybody lower than Houston for pretty much anything I could get.

I agree. I just think they'd need to be more careful with teams like Minnesota and Denver (even though as long as Dak is healthy I'd like their chances in those games too). I'd avoid Houston like the plague unless they were actually dumb enough to deal a stud defensive player, ask for minimum 3rd rounder or potential Pro Bowl defender from Minnesota or Denver, and take what I could get from pretty much anyone else.

The one thing that is for sure is that currently Dallas holds all the cards, and the only way they can screw it up is by trading him to a potential contender without getting hardly anything in return. Every other option is very advantageous to them in at least some way.

[parabrave]

The problem with that is that the Vikings already gave up their 2017 first round pick to the eagles for Sam Bradford. Don't think they go after him. Plus, Bradford had a hell of a season that no one talks about:

He threw for almost 4,000 yards, 20(ish) tds, and like 5 interceptions. I think he also set some record for highest completion percentage. The reason the vikings sucked were not because of him. They sucked because of their OL and they had no viable rb once AP went down.

bradford did have a great year. However he is Romo jr who has a shoulder made of jello and is very injury prone. No one is going to take Romo with that contract. Jerry can afford to keep Romo , since he is getting away with paying Dak crap, as backup letting him retire as a cowboy.

[msstate7]

bradford did have a great year. However he is Romo jr who has a shoulder made of jello and is very injury prone. No one is going to take Romo with that contract. Jerry can afford to keep Romo , since he is getting away with paying Dak crap, as backup letting him retire as a cowboy.

Someone will definitely take a shot on romo. There's a reason the Blaine gabberts of the world in the top 10... QBs are almost a necessity to win

[Tbonewannabe]

bradford did have a great year. However he is Romo jr who has a shoulder made of jello and is very injury prone. No one is going to take Romo with that contract. Jerry can afford to keep Romo , since he is getting away with paying Dak crap, as backup letting him retire as a cowboy.

Only thing is Romo is not going to agree to just be the backup. He handled it extremely well during the season but he only has a couple of years left and he isn't going to spend them as a backup.

[DancingRabbit]

There might be conditional picks involved. Like Dallas getting a 4th round pick, plus a 2nd round pick if Romo plays in 12+ games.

[Joe Schmedlap]

Trade him (Romo) for BMac

[Johnson85]

Yes, you're right. But what's the point of that? The argument was that they could get a similarly overpaid player and then play them.

Someone else made the comment that the Cowboys were considering just cutting him. That was my point about trying to trade for another highly paid player that needs to be cut plus trading some draft picks. The cowboys get an improved draft position (or maybe just flat out more draft picks) and the other team gets Romo through trade rather than having to hope he signs with them after being cut.

[HSVDawg]

Someone else made the comment that the Cowboys were considering just cutting him. That was my point about trying to trade for another highly paid player that needs to be cut plus trading some draft picks. The cowboys get an improved draft position (or maybe just flat out more draft picks) and the other team gets Romo through trade rather than having to hope he signs with them after being cut.

And Dallas would be receptive to that so long as the teams they would be receiving picks from weren't likely future opponents in a high stakes postseason game. The question is do any non-contenders who need help at QB and also a bunch of other areas want to give away future building blocks for a guy that has maybe 1-2 years left so they could win a couple more games per year but still not make the playoffs? Its not likely. Even late round picks are valuable for teams that have multiple holes. The rub is that Dallas isn't going to trade him to a contender for late round picks and teams that aren't contenders probably won't want to trade late round picks with Dallas for an aging Romo.

[CadaverDawg]

Dallas could trade Romo and their next 2 first & 2nd rounders to the Browns for the #1 overall pick this year, and get Myles Garrett. Then the Browns get picks AND a QB. Lol