Thoughts on a Tony Romo for JJ Watt trade?

[msstate7]

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

Yeah, the browns would be a playoff team 3 years from now if Dallas did that.

[HSVDawg]

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

Might as well trade Dak and Zeke for Cody Kessler and Duke Johnson if they are gonna get that crazy.

[CadaverDawg]

Might as well trade Dak and Zeke for Cody Kessler and Duke Johnson if they are gonna get that crazy.

Ha, just trying to keep up with the thread

[whatever]

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.

Umm, what? Trading Romo doesn't give them less options or prevent them from doing the same thing they would've done in free agency by cutting him. How would cutting him give them more bargaining power? They'll likely get a mid to lower round pick (3rd-6th), not a player, in a trade and still be able to go get who they want in FA.

Also, your post about keeping him from going to a good team is the opposite of how I look at it. If they cut him, they have zero control over where he signs and he's going to want to go to the team that has the best chance to win like Peyton did. If they trade him, they can assure he doesn't go to a team that poses a threat to beat them by only trading with a Jags/Browns level team.

[HSVDawg]

Umm, what? Trading Romo doesn't give them less options or prevent them from doing the same thing they would've done in free agency by cutting him. How would cutting him give them more bargaining power? They'll likely get a mid to lower round pick (3rd-6th), not a player, in a trade and still be able to go get who they want in FA.

Also, your post about keeping him from going to a good team is the opposite of how I look at it. If they cut him, they have zero control over where he signs and he's going to want to go to the team that has the best chance to win like Peyton did. If they trade him, they can assure he doesn't go to a team that poses a threat to beat them by only trading with a Jags/Browns level team.

If you read my entire post you'll see that I agree with most of what you said. The bargaining power I was referring to was for the players they would be picking up with the cap money they unloaded from Romo.

Let's say in a hypothetical scenario (which I don't think is very farfetched), the trade market for Romo isn't so good. Let's say the only teams that want him are Denver and Houston, and neither is willing to give up anything higher than a 4th round pick to get him. Dallas is better off either cutting him and letting the chips fall where they may in free agency, or hanging onto him another year as opposed to just handing him over to one of those teams for basically nothing.

[dawgs]

Vikings, Cardinals, Denver, and Houston are all in this same boat. Super Bowl contenders with a healthy Romo.

Not sure about the cardinals. Palmer definitely didn't have his best year, but ended up with numbers that are about typical expectations from romo (4200 yes, 26 tds, 14 ints). Age is a wash. Palmer catches most of the blame, but their D was a pretty big let down this year too.

[dawgs]

Umm, what? Trading Romo doesn't give them less options or prevent them from doing the same thing they would've done in free agency by cutting him. How would cutting him give them more bargaining power? They'll likely get a mid to lower round pick (3rd-6th), not a player, in a trade and still be able to go get who they want in FA.

Also, your post about keeping him from going to a good team is the opposite of how I look at it. If they cut him, they have zero control over where he signs and he's going to want to go to the team that has the best chance to win like Peyton did. If they trade him, they can assure he doesn't go to a team that poses a threat to beat them by only trading with a Jags/Browns level team.

Jerry love tony too much to send him to the browns or jags (though jags have a lot of talent, they might be a QB away from being decent). He wouldn't send him to an NFC team that is a QB away from being a contender either. But both Houston and Denver are AFC teams, so that doesn't pose a problem there.

[whatever]

If you read my entire post you'll see that I agree with most of what you said. The bargaining power I was referring to was for the players they would be picking up with the cap money they unloaded from Romo.

Let's say in a hypothetical scenario (which I don't think is very farfetched), the trade market for Romo isn't so good. Let's say the only teams that want him are Denver and Houston, and neither is willing to give up anything higher than a 4th round pick to get him. Dallas is better off either cutting him and letting the chips fall where they may in free agency, or hanging onto him another year as opposed to just handing him over to one of those teams for basically nothing.

Romo's 17' cap impact to the Cowboys is the same whether they trade or cut him tho, so it doesn't give them any more $ to spend in FA if they cut him (before June 1) as opposed to trading him.

So an extra 4th round pick for him(which is probably close to what they'll get) is better than getting nothing for him by cutting him. It also allows them to control where he goes. The bad teams are now likely to give up more in a trade because they know Romo wont consider them if he has his choice of anywhere in unrestricted FA. He'll also take less in FA to go to let's say the Broncos than he would to a place that isn't set up to win

[HSVDawg]

Romo's 17' cap impact to the Cowboys is the same whether they trade or cut him tho, so it doesn't give them any more $ to spend in FA if they cut him (before June 1) as opposed to trading him.

I understand that. All else being equal, a trade for Romo is obviously better for the Cowboys than just releasing him. Cutting him definitely isn't the best option, but its still better than the worst option (see below)..

So an extra 4th round pick for him(which is probably close to what they'll get) is better than getting nothing for him by cutting him. It also allows them to control where he goes.

That is open to interpretation. Their control on where he goes is limited to the teams that are interested. If I'm the Cowboys, I'd much rather get a 5th or 6th round (or maybe even 7th round pick) from the Bears or the Jets than a 4th round pick from Houston or Denver. Too much risk there for not much reward as 4th round picks can be hit or miss.

The bad teams are now likely to give up more in a trade because they know Romo wont consider them if he has his choice of anywhere in unrestricted FA. He'll also take less in FA to go to let's say the Broncos than he would to a place that isn't set up to win

Disagree here. I expect the bad teams to be not nearly as interested in a trade for Romo as they would be in picking him up off free agency. That is because draft picks are far more valuable for those teams and it isn't worth giving those up because those teams are too far gone to be winning big in Romo's would-be tenure. But it would be worth those teams picking him up in FA if the price is right. He'd be worth a couple more wins and a lot better ticket sales if nothing else. And who knows, maybe they catch a break here and there and sneak into the playoffs.

My view of the hierarchy of Dallas's options for Romo (from best to worst) are as follows:

1) Trade him to a bad team for a Pro Bowl defensive player or Top 3 round draft pick (not likely, but Dallas should jump all over it if they get an offer)
2) Trade him to a contender level team in the AFC (Houston or Denver?) for a Pro Bowl defensive player and/or a Top 3 round draft pick.
3) Trade him to a bad team for a late round pick and/or aging veteran defensive player with a little gas left in the tank.
4) Cut him and play the free agent market, hope Romo lands on a bad team.
5) Do nothing; hang onto Romo another year and just eat the money.
6) Trade him to a contender level team for a late round pick. This is really the only option they should not consider.