Tony Romo- Undervalued Free Agent?

While Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliot stole the Dallas headlines during their stellar

rookie seasons, long-time Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo was quietly riding the

bench for the first time since he “Brady-ed” Drew Bledsoe. Romo will most likely be

released or traded to another team this offseason.

As he turns the page on his career as a Dallas Cowboy, it’s important to evaluate

Romo’s place in NFL history as well as his value in the free agent market...

Tony Romo enters the 2017 season as the Cowboys’ all-time leader in passing yards

and touchdown passes. He also edged out Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach for the

lead in completion percentage. Let’s compare his starting stats to Hall of Fame

quarterbacks when each left his team under similar circumstances:

Tony Romo- Dallas Cowboys (2006-2016)

Career Passing Yards: 34,183

Career TD Passes: 248

Career QB Rating: 97.1

Joe Montana- San Francisco 49ers (1981-1993)

Career Passing Yards: 35,124

Career TD Passes: 244

Career QB Rating: 93.5

Warren Moon- Houston Oilers (1984-1994)

Career Passing Yards: 33,685

Career TD Passes: 196

Career QB Rating: 80.4

Joe Namath- New York Jets (1965-1976)

Career Passing Yards: 27,053

Career TD Passes: 170

Career QB Rating: 65.8

Obviously, Romo enters the market without the hardware of the others, and there’s a

legitimate debate about the changing era between the NFL of Joe Namath’s time and

the NFL of Romo’s. However, it is safe to conclude that the “choke artist” is highly

underappreciated, given the stats he’s put up.

If there’s ever been a time to be hopeful about 37-year old quarterbacks with big stats,

it’s now. Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, John Elway, and many others have

shown that the old guys can still hang with the young guns. And while Tony Romo may

never live up to those names, and may never even win a Super Bowl, there is still gas in

the tank. Just as the Jets and Vikings took a chance on Favre, the Broncos took a

chance on Manning, and the Chiefs gambled on Montana, NFL teams of today should

do the same for Romo. In the scarce market for capable quarterbacks, organizations

such as the 49ers, Broncos, and Bears could benefit from 3 more solid years of Tony.

Article by: Brandon Stanley

(Statistics provided by: profootballreference.com)