It’s been a bit of a strange week in the NFL. It’s not every day that you see a proven veteran quarterback hold a press conference in order to announce that he will back-up a rookie the rest of the way for the best team in the NFL. This unique situation has the Mile High City talking Tony Romo in orange and blue, but let’s slow our roll just a bit.
The idea of Tony Romo joining the Denver Broncos makes a lot of sense. It was just in 2012 that John Elway signed an injured and aged Peyton Manning to take over the Broncos’ offense. It was that move that brought about four of the best years in franchise history.
The question is: Aould a similar move in signing Romo make sense for Denver in the offseason?
In all likelihood, the Dallas Cowboys will cut Romo after the year, much like the Indianapolis Colts did with Manning. Like Manning, Romo will most likely command top dollar on the market, and Elway will have to figure out if the team has the cap space to move forward.
The thing is, there’s much more to a deal like this. Romo has been injury prone behind the best offensive line in football. It’s hard to imagine Romo being able to survive a season behind the current offensive line in Denver. Trevor Siemian is young and barely surviving the onslaught of hits that he has taken.
If fans want Romo in Denver, Elway must find a way to upgrade the offensive line first. It will be difficult to upgrade the offensive line and pay a quarterback top dollar at the same time. Cap space is not a luxury for the Broncos after the team signed Brandon Marshall, Von Miller and Emmanuel Sanders to long-term extensions during the past offseason.
The Broncos would also have to find a trade partner to unload Siemian. This would leave Denver with just Paxton Lynch at quarterback and would probably force Elway to draft another rookie quarterback late for insurance. This is not the worst thing in the world; however, it would cost the Broncos a chance to improve in other areas during the draft.
If Denver can take care of all the necessary business to get them ready for Romo, it would not be the worst gamble in the world. Siemian is probably, at best, an average starting quarterback in the NFL. Lynch is going to take more time to develop, and you really don’t know what you have next season. Romo would blend well with the solid position players and championship caliber defense that Denver currently has. Also, it seems that Romo could come in and run Gary Kubiak’s system perfectly.
The thought of getting Romo to Denver is absolutely correct. It is just about the Broncos getting all the pieces together to make that happen and to make sure it is a successful investment.
Catch Weekend Drive with Sean Walsh these weekend from 2p-4p on Saturday and 6p-8p Sunday on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.
