Sportsbooks still point to the Houston Texans as the odds-on favourites to sign Dallas Cowboys veteran QB Tony Romo, but a couple of unexpected candidates have emerged in the form of the CBS and Fox networks.
Houston Texans
Having gotten the Brock Osweiler monkey off their collective back, the Texans are in dire need of a quarterback (some fans might argue that the Texans were in need of a QB even while Osweiler was on the roster). Currently, Tom Savage and Brandon Weeden are bunking together in the Texan’s quarterback room. Savage was drafted 135th overall in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft, played two games that season, watched the 2015 season from the sidelines with a shoulder injury, and played another three games in 2016, of which he started two. He is 56 of 92 for 588 yards with no TDs and one pick. As for Weeden, he has plied his trade in three different teams in five years, mostly as a backup but sometimes as a third-string quarterback.
“We are really looking forward to working with those guys. Both those guys can throw the football,” Houston head coach Bill O’Brien told NFL Network’s Judy Battista. “Tom is a guy who played two or three games for us last year, played well, did some good things for our football team. We’re excited to be working with Brandon. Two years ago, he helped us win a couple games.”
CBS
Former Chiefs and Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez is ending his three-year tenure as an NFL Today analyst over at the Eye Network. CBS has not officially named a replacement, but sportsbooks believe (and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports) that Romo has a shot at making the transition from the gridiron to television, like so many other greats before him – Alexa Karras, Bubba Smith, O.J. Simpson. Romo could not only replace Gonzales but also, as the WaPo puts it, “save us from Phil Simms.” And it does kind of make sense. Romo has forgotten more about football than most of us we’ll ever know, while Simms has just forgotten a lot about football, period.
Fox
According to ESPN Staff Writer Todd Archer, Romo could also be a possible replacement for John Lynch on Fox (Fox Broadcasting Company, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing). Should Romo be interested in the position, he might have to compete with former Eagles coach Chip Kelly, who has reportedly auditioned to fill the vacancy. However, according to Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch, “the NFL TV producers I’ve spoken with really love Romo’s potential.”
As Philly.com points out, “Romo doesn’t have any broadcasting experience” and “throwing an untested rookie into a prominent role twice a week” such as CBS’s Thursday night package seems rather farfetched in spite of what sportsbooks say. But Romo should go ahead and take a stab at it regardless. And if push comes to shove and he gets some flak about his lack of experience, Romo can always say, “Sweet Sassy Molassey, I’m doing my best here!”
