Buffalo Bills

5 Reasons for the Bills to Target Tony Romo This Offseason

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:32 a.m. ET

Fansided, Josh Wilson/FanSided via BuffaLowDown

Aug 20, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; A general view of a Buffalo Bills helmet before a game against the New York Giants at New Era Field. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

The Buffalo Bills may be in need of a quarterback this offseason, and the Cowboys may be looking to part with Tony Romo, a decent option for Buffalo.

The Buffalo Bills, although it’s now looking more and more like Tyrod Taylor is an option for the team despite the feeling at the beginning of the offseason, may be in the market for a new quarterback very soon. Whether they look to fill their needs under center in the draft or in free agency, they do have a lot of options, even though at first glance things may seem slim for them.

Tony Romo is likely to be one of those options, as long as the Bills want to put in some effort in going out to get him. Romo has long been the starter for the Dallas Cowboys, but recently had trouble being a consistent starter due to injuries. He started the 2016 season injured, and Dak Prescott, a rookie, took his place and did very well. Even when Romo was healthy, he remained on the bench.

So, with Romo, who is taking up a fairly decent amount of cap space ($8.5 million) for the Cowboys, and the team looking prepared to move forward with Prescott rather than Romo, there’s motivation to move him. They don’t want an unhappy Romo as their backup, and certainly would like to trade him rather than straight up release him so that they can get some trade value in return for him, but it looks like he may ultimately end up being released.

Jerry Jones recently said that the everyone needs to “cool it” on the Romo talk, but the Cowboys do need to figure something out, and soon.

Whatever is determined, the Bills may be in the market for Romo, and there are some really good reasons for Bills fans to want him.

Jan 15, 2017; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) warms up before the game against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional playoff game at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Experience

Tony Romo has quite a bit of NFL experience under his belt that he could bring to the Bills. Having now been in the NFL for 12 years, he’s seen the NFL from plenty of different angles. He’s gone back and forth between a few angles as well, and at this point in his career, has ended up right where he started — on the bench.

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Romo also led the league in completion percentage and touchdown percentage in 2014, led the league in two different seasons in yards per attempt, and led the league in overall quarterback rating in one season.

Considering that Romo put up those numbers fairly consistently since he became a starter about a decade ago is pretty impressive, and if you stripped the name from that and provided just the stats, one might assume that the player you’re showing is someone more like a Ben Roethlisberger, certainly not Romo.

The point is that Romo is really not a bad quarterback when you look at the raw numbers. Now, context is everything, and the fact that a lot of Romo’s inconsistencies have come in the late months of the season when things are down to the wire, and late in games where the team needs a man under center to step up big shows that maybe he’s not the best option.

But if the Bills are looking for a quarterback who can pass — well, hopefully that is on their shopping list, right? — and can all-around just be a decent quarterback on a gamely basis, Romo might be the best option out there this offseason.

Jan 1, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) sits on the bench while watching game action against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. The Philadelphia Eagles won 27-13. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Something to prove

We could really talk all day about Romo and what he can offer the team from a statistical standpoint, but if we add in the context of Romo’s situation with all of this, it makes him an even better option under center in Buffalo.

The (likely) ending of Romo’s career in Dallas was no fairytale. In fact, it was pretty ugly. After only appearing in five games over the last season due to injury, he was replaced by a much younger quarterback who was, quite frankly, looking better than Romo from when he was last healthy.

That’s pretty embarrassing for a veteran quarterback, to be benched in favor of a rookie, and certainly should leave a bad taste in Romo’s mouth if he has a single bone of competitiveness in his body.

With that said, the next team that Romo gets a chance to start on will have an angry man under center, or at least they should. Romo should be fueled with competitiveness and anger. His next opportunity should be inspired by his days with the Cowboys to prove them wrong for benching him even when he was recovered from injury.

While Romo will likely give the media generic, “those days are behind me” quotes when asked about his days in Dallas and if that still sits with him, he’s a human just like the rest of us, and can’t forget that he was benched after a decade of solid statistical play for a rookie.

Romo has something to prove, and why wouldn’t the Bills want to latch onto that?

Players want him on their team

You want your quarterback to be a player that is going to benefit his teammates with great passes and good plays. Many players around the NFL want Romo on their team, and want him to be on their team. That’s a sign that Romo is a players’ quarterback, and that he should be wanted by several teams around the league. The Bills should at least put themselves in the running to get Romo this offseason because of that.

Emmanuel Sanders, wide receiver for the Denver Broncos, came out and made it very clear that he felt he would benefit from the addition of Romo to the Broncos, another team who may be looking for a quarterback this offseason.

But one thing about it is: I’m always gonna take it back and I’m just gonna put it on John Elway. In John Elway I trust. If he does bring him over, I think Tony Romo will fit good in [offensive coordinator Mike] McCoy’s system. It’s a no-huddle, up-tempo offense. I think that it’s gonna be similar to the Cowboys. I think he has Demaryius Thomas and some receiver No. 10 on the other side. I feel like we will win ballgames with Tony Romo or potentially a championship. At the same time, Paxton Lynch played in a spread offense at Memphis and he can be successful. I think Trevor can be successful. We’ll see what we do. I can’t sit up here and say ‘Bring Tony Romo!’ because I also have two other quarterbacks that are playing really well too

Quote transcribed by Pro Football Talk.

That’s a lot of trust in Romo from a player that has only observed him from afar, and hasn’t been a teammate of his. He’s a talented wide receiver, bringing in over 1,000 yards and scoring 5 touchdowns last season, so for him to say he wants Romo is a huge compliment and a huge testament for what Romo could do for a receiving core.

Now, of course, the Bills would have to figure out who exactly would be receiving the ball from Romo because essentially the only person they have is Sammy Watkins, but that’s another problem in itself. Whoever the Bills get to run wide receiver, Romo could help a lot.