FRISCO, Texas — Those closest to Tony Romo on the Cowboys aren’t ready to discuss the future of the Dallas quarterback, probably because they know the likely final answer.
After 156 games and franchise bests of 34,183 yards passing and 248 touchdowns, Romo’s career in Dallas appears to be over after he lost the job he held for 10 years to rookie sensation Dak Prescott following a preseason back injury.
The question is, what’s next?
“There’s several cards to be played,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said on his radio show Tuesday. “Don’t think for one minute if you see something written or something said about what and where Romo is going to be relative to our team that there’s any credibility to it.
“There’s only one that can make that decision, and there’s been no decision made.”
Whether it’s a trade or release, Romo figures to have at least some say in where he goes because of his strong relationship with the Jones family and Coach Jason Garrett. And logic says it will be a playoff contender needing a quarterback.
Tight end Jason Witten came into the NFL with Romo in 2003 and is his best friend on the team. Romo and Witten didn’t appear in the locker room a day after a 34-31 playoff loss to Green Bay. But immediately after the Packers won, Witten was asked whether his friend had played his final game for the Cowboys and he recalled the only time Romo spoke publicly all season, when he read a five-minute statement that conceded the job to Prescott and didn’t take questions.
“I’m sure in the next few weeks we’ll have a time to talk,” Witten said. “But I’m proud of him and how he handled that. Going back to when he had his press conference and the way he was able to kind of take the lead and eliminate the distraction for our football team. That wasn’t easy to do. I think we’re all better because of that.”
After declining to discuss the Prescott-Romo decision in detail all season, Garrett finally opened up when the season was over.
Garrett, who was Romo’s offensive coordinator for 31/2 seasons before taking over as head coach, said the difficulty was realizing how successful Romo was in the previous two seasons when he wasn’t out with a twice-broken collarbone in 2015.
Romo was 16-5 in his final 21 starts, including two playoff games in 2014.
49ERS: The search for a new coach has narrowed in on Atlanta offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan after the only other candidate remaining pulled out of consideration.
Seattle offensive line coach Tom Cable’s agent, Doug Hendickson, tweeted Tuesday that Cable is “re-affirming” his commitment to the Seahawks and thanked the 49ers for their interest. That follows New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels pulling out on Monday and leaves Shanahan as the only remaining candidate.
JETS: Right guard Brian Winters is sticking with the Jets after they took a chance on him four years ago. Winters signed a four-year contract extension worth $29 million, including $15 million guaranteed.
BRONCOS: Coach Vance Joseph promoted secondary coach Joe Woods to defensive coordinator, replacing Wade Phillips, who left for the Rams.
BILLS: Coach Sean McDermott continues filling out his staff by hiring Rob Boras to coach tight ends.
Boras spent the past four seasons with the Rams.
WASHINGTON: The team interviewed outside linebackers coach Greg Manusky for its defensive coordinator job.
Other candidates include former Jaguars coach Gus Bradley, former Bills assistant Rob Ryan and former Browns coach Mike Pettine.
Before rejoining Washington as outside linebackers coach under Joe Barry last season, Manusky served as defensive coordinator for the Colts, Chargers and 49ers.
PANTHERS: Wide receivers coach Ricky Proehl resigned so he can spend more time watching his sons play college football.
Proehl’s son, Austin, is a wide receiver at North Carolina. His other son, Blake, recently committed to play football at East Carolina.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.