Tony Romo May Request & Be Granted His Release From Cowboys Next Year?

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, citing a source with knowledge of the situation, reports that Cowboys QB Tony Romo may not want to be traded next year and could instead ask to be granted his release.

This makes sense from Romo’s perspective, as he could maximize his options and sign with a team of his choosing instead of playing for whoever offers the Cowboys the best return package.

According to Florio, Romo is believed to be keeping tabs on a few teams including the Broncos, Cardinals and Dolphins.

We’ve already seen reports connecting him to Denver and Arizona, but this is the first we’ve seen of the Dolphins possibly being an option for him next year. Florio writes that the Dolphins could be an option if Ryan Tannehill eventually needs a full-blown ACL reconstruction and there ends up being a similar situation as the Vikings were in when they traded for Sam Bradford.

It’s worth mentioning that some reports have said the Cowboys are likely to do what they can to help Romo land in the best spot for him next year if they do, in fact, choose to move on from Romo.

There’s still a chance we could see Romo start for the Cowboys this season, which could complicate things further, so there’s clearly a lot to be sorted out in the coming months.

Romo is shaping up to be one of the top storylines of the offseason, so you can expect to see several more updates posted in the coming weeks/months.

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.