By John Sarianides

Barring a pre-draft or draft weekend trade, Tony Romo will be a member of the Dallas Cowboys until June 1st. He shouldn’t make any career plans until then. 

The Cowboys know they can’t trade Romo because they have no takers. As a result, they will hold onto him until June 1st and then release Romo to go to Houston or where ever else he wants to go.

Romo is reportedly only interested in playing for the Texans. If he can’t stay in Texas, he is prepared to retire and enter the world of broadcasting. He has offers on the table from both FOX and CBS.

Romo needs to slow his roll. Barring a last second change of heart by either the Texans or Broncos, no team is going to make Dallas a trade offer for him. They don’t have to because they know that the Cowboys are going to eventually release him. 

The Cowboys have the leverage here, not Romo. They have tried to do right by the veteran quarterback and trade him but to avail. So now Jerry Jones will hold onto him until June 1st and make the difficult decision of releasing him. Jones did his due to diligence to accommodate Romo and trade him but nothing materialized. 

If the Cowboys released Romo on June 1st, they would still be responsible for his 2017 prorated bonus amount ($10.7 million). That number would count against the cap. However Dallas would get out of Romo’s 2017 base salary of $14 million. That is important for a team like the Cowboys that is up against the cap.

Dallas will still owe Romo money over the course of the next two years but if they can get out from his contract now, they will be in better position to make decisions on long term contracts moving forward.

Romo needs to pump the brakes on any career plans because unless he plans on retiring, he will be a Dallas Cowboy for the foreseeable future. It is the unfortunate side of the business.