Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo Reportedly Being Pursued By CBS Sports – Forbes

While the NFL offseason is over two weeks old, Tony Romo still remains a member of the Dallas Cowboys and there doesn’t seem to be a quick resolution of this situation. The long-time starting quarterback for the team has been linked to numerous teams, as well as to Fox Sports if he decides to stop playing football, but another NFL broadcaster could jump in the mix if he becomes available.

While Tony Romo still remains a Dallas Cowboy, he is reportedly being pursued by CBS Sports if he decides to retire from the NFL. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

On Friday afternoon, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that, in addition to Fox Sports’ interest in Romo, competitor CBS Sports has expressed an interest in hiring the quarterback if he decides to make the move from the field to the broadcast booth. While Romo now has two reported options off the field, the general sentiment remains that he wants to continue his career in the NFL as a starting quarterback outside of Dallas.

It’s not just FOX in pursuit of Cowboys QB Tony Romo; it’s also CBS making a strong push to add him to its team, per sources.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 24, 2017

It was previously reported that Romo would be released by the Cowboys earlier this month, but owner Jerry Jones has yet to make the move, keeping Romo on the roster so far. By cutting Romo, the team would save $14 million in cap space for the 2017 season. He is entering his fifth year of the current six-year $108 million contract with $55 million guaranteed.

The 37-year old quarterback was supplanted as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback, following a back injury in the preseason. Rookie Dak Prescott came in for Romo and never looked back as he lead the team to one of the best seasons in the team’s storied history. The Cowboys have been in a challenging situation this offseason, wanting to do well by their long-time franchise player while also clearly not being in a hurry to lose the services of Romo without any sort of compensation in return. Romo has played for the Cowboys for his entire 13-year NFL career.

Cowboys Hall of Fame wide receiver and television personality in his own right, Michael Irvin, emphatically believes that Romo will not be retiring before next season. He had this to say on CBS Sports Radio:

“Tony’s not retiring. Tony’s not retiring. Tony loves to play. Tony is a competitor like you’ve never seen,” Irvin said. “I know his body looks like maybe he’s not. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it in the shower. But this dude can play any sport, and he plays it great. He put it on me in basketball. I don’t even try to mess with him in golf. This dude can play any sport and play it great. I want that. I want that on my team. He’s not retiring, I can tell you that.”

Losing Romo will be tough for the team’s fans and ownership to swallow, but they will likely want Romo’s $14 million of salary cap space to be invested in other areas besides backup quarterback.

While injuries have plagued Romo the past two seasons he remains in great demand due to the dearth of quality quarterbacks through the NFL Despite the intense interest, there is a clear hesitance by many teams in the NFL to trade away anything of value for Romo, thinking that the Cowboys will eventually release the quarterback rather than pay him his $14 million salary.

With the NFL Draft next month, one would think this situation will be resolved soon after, but this remains a high stakes cat and mouse game between the Cowboys and the rest of the NFL.  It would not be a surprise to see it drag on into the summer months before training camp.

Simon Ogus is the COO of SportTechie.com. He can be followed at @SportTechie and reached at simon.ogus@sporttechie.com