You could be right, but the precedent is there and by all accounts, Jerry Jones nearly sees Romo as a son. I wouldn't be shocked in the least if Romo is granted a release if they can't work a deal to a contender. If that happens, you'd have to think he first looks to two teams: Houston and Denver. Only way he makes it to a Buffalo or something would be if they pony up serious cash.
The Cowboys cutting him and a league minimum contract. That is the ONLY scenario where the Texans would have ANY interest whatsoever.
I'd do it. Send a 2nd to Dallas. Is it possible for the Texans to clear enough cap space for Romo? Who would we have to let walk?
It was because Peyton was coming off of career threatening neck surgery and there were serious questions of how well he could still play. What he did his first year in Denver surprised nearly everyone.
We're currently about $24.6M under the estimated 2017 cap and Romo's cap 2017 cap hit is $24.7M. So pretty much all of our free agents (most notably Bouye) and then cut Cushing and Joseph (which we'll probably do anyway) to create another $13M for other moves.
Romo is not worth losing Buoye and then also not having the ability to sign any other notable free agents. That money created by cutting Cush and Joseph would mostly go to draft picks.
Not kicking the tires on Romo, Rivers and Brees (and any other aging, expensive - but still good - QB stuck on a bad team or in a bad situation) would be flat-out irresponsible. Or, you know... the Brock Osweiler route.... If it's not a proven veteran, I'd rather they roll with Osweiler/Savage/high(er) draft pick. They can't afford 1, 2 or 3 years figuring out what they have with a back-up.
I said decent QB. But yeah, the Osweiller situation was weird all around - they thought so highly of him that they benched him for a dead-armed Manning with the lowest QB Rating in the NFL last year. To put it in context, they benched Osweiller for a guy who was having a season worse than *this year's* Osweiller, with a 65 QBRating and 9 TDs / 17 INTs. I don't think the love affair with Osweiller there was what people have made it out to be. Denver wanted to keep him because they had a SB team and he had some experience, but I don't think they cared that much. That said, you're right that it's an example of a QB leaving a team that tried to keep him. I guess I'm more thinking of a situation where a team envisioned a guy as their franchise QB. I'm not sure Brock was ever that for them. In that scenario, deals always get worked out - no team loses their franchise QB, so no franchise-type QBs are ever available (outside of those rare "we have 2 great QB!" situations).
Yeah, I initially added that caveat - but, to be fair... Osweiler WAS decent last year. And in terms of age and potential, is the best QB to hit free agency in... a very long time. But, back to your point: I don't think this'll be a case of a team parting with a QB they want to keep - it'll be taking an expensive, veteran off their hands so that they can move potentially start the process of clearing cap space and moving on.
It doesn't matter what QB you get until the coaching staff changes it's outlook and attitude for the offense. I'm not saying Brock doesn't have his faults, but the OC and Bob are not helping one bit... Too much focus has been put on the QB instead of the actual problem which is the coach. This team has went thru 7 qb's in the last 3 years. T_Man