All aboard!
Denver Broncos GM John Elway is conducting the Tony Romo train, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
In fact, the speeding locomotive is gaining steam by the day, with the final destination inking Romo to a deal to be the next Broncos’ QB.
Elway has gone down this track before – signing an aging veteran no longer wanted by his old team – and last time he did the route ended with a Super Bowl 50 title.
Peyton Manning rode off into the sunset with the Lombardi Trophy grasped firmly in right hand; there’s no reason Romo can’t do the same.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Tuesday the Broncos are “clearly in the driver’s seat” for the Pro Bowl QB, provided Romo’s willing to take a little bit of a pay cut.
Considering Romo has made more than $127 million in his NFL career thus far, he’s slightly crazy if winning a title doesn’t take priority over the paycheck. And it’s not like the Broncos would be asking Romo to work for minimum wage – they’d probably be willing to pay him $10-12 million. If you can’t live the lifestyle you want off that number, then you have a problem.
The sharps in Las Vegas also are on board with Rapoport’s thinking. As of a few days ago, Bovada had the Broncos as the odds-on favorite to land Romo, at 3-1. After that, the Texans were 5-1, the Cowboys 6-1 and longshots like the Jets, Jaguars, Dolphins and 49ers at 10-1 or worse.
Look, it’s becoming more apparent by the day that Denver is Romo’s most logical landing spot – for everyone involved.
The often-mocked QB can still save his legacy, and win a Super Bowl, but he’s clearly running out of time. At 36-years old (37 in April), he’s not getting any younger or any less injury prone. Even playing two or three more seasons, as Romo says he would like to, seems like a stretch. If he could get through the 2017 season healthy and ready to start a playoff game, it’d likely be his best chance of winning it all.
For the Broncos, that old saying seems to hold some weight: If you have two quarterbacks, you really have none. Trevor Siemian fell apart down the stretch and looks more like a career backup than a guy you build your franchise around. Meanwhile, rumblings of Paxton Lynch being a dreaded ‘bust’ grow by the day, as folks get more and more puzzled why he couldn’t get on the field in a meaningless Week 17 game against the Raiders.
A common counterpoint is that the Broncos eventually need to develop a QB, and can’t keep relying on old veterans ditched by their former teams to bail them out.
Uh, why not?
Championships in the NFL are hard to come by.
The fact the Broncos have won three as a franchise is something 23 other organizations would kill for. With their core on defense from the Super Bowl 50 team still largely intact, there’s no reason they can’t make it four rings at Super Bowl LII about 11 months from now.
Romo could change the entire narrative on his career by winning it all.
Denver has a real shot to grab another Lombardi next season – if they can find a QB.
It’s a match made in heaven, and the train is gaining steam.
Nothing can happen until the new league starts next week, when Romo will likely be released by Dallas, but after that things could move quickly.
Romo’s first free agent visit will likely to be Denver.
John Elway can invite him aboard the train, and not slow down until he’s got another Super Bowl to his name.
All aboard!