Cardinals, Bears, Jets & Broncos Teams To Watch For Tony Romo Next Year

Adam Schefter of ESPN writes that the Cardinals, Bears, Jets and possibly the Broncos could be potential landing spots for QB Tony Romo if the Cowboys elect to move on from him next year.

This is, of course, assuming that the Cowboys decide to move forward with Dak Prescott as their starting quarterback next year, which would leave Romo as the highest paid backup quarterback in the NFL.

The Bears are widely expected to move on from Jay Cutler next year and begin looking for a new quarterback. The same can be said for the Jets and Ryan Fitzpatrick. Although, the Jets have used mid-round picks on Bryce Petty and Christin Hackenberg in back-to-back years.

As for the Broncos, it seems like a long-shot, considering that they have first-round pick Paxton Lynch and current starter Trevor Siemian on favorable rookie contracts.

If the Cardinals were to be an option for Romo, Carson Palmer would obviously have to step aside after this season, even though he signed an extension with the team a few months ago.

Sunday morning, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported that Romo is willing to be the team’s backup quarterback and it could take place as soon as next week. Rapoport says that this situation has been difficult for Romo, who has taken it hard. However, he plans to be a team player and wait for an opportunity.

Romo, 36, is in the third year of his seven-year, $119.5 million contract that included $55 million guaranteed. He stands to make base salaries of $8.5 million (2016), $14 million (2017), $19.5 million (2018) and $20.5 million (2019).

According to OverTheCap.com, releasing or trading Romo would free up $5.1 million in available cap space while creating a staggering $19.6 million in dead money, which figures to be a huge consideration for the Cowboys.

In 2015, Romo threw for 884 yards while completing 68.6 percent of his passes to go along with five touchdowns and seven interceptions over the course of four games for the Cowboys.

We’ll have more regarding Romo and his future with the Cowboys as the news is available.