Dallas Cowboys

Tony Romo: Options Narrowed To Houston Texans Or Retirement

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:18 p.m. ET

Fansided, Luke Sims/FanSided via NFL Spin Zone

The Houston Texans gained some big leverage with the announcement that quarterback Tony Romo will either play for them or retire, so why isn't he signed yet?

Prior to 2017 NFL free agency, the Tony Romo dilemma was already at the forefront of the storylines. The face of the Dallas Cowboys for the last decade, Romo was expected to join another team and instantly turn that team into a competitor for a Super Bowl.

Whether that team was the Denver Broncos or the Houston Texans did not matter much, but it was expected he would be suiting up in one of those two teams' uniforms. Both the Broncos and the Texans desperately need a quarterback upgrade to get to the Super Bowl, already boasting two of the best defenses in the NFL.

Yet here the NFL sits, weeks after free agency began, still waiting on Romo's move to another team. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones jerked back at the thought of releasing Romo and has tried to shop him in a trade. In return, Romo's market has shrunk and the Broncos are no longer actively pursuing him.

Now, it's either the Texans or retirement, per ESPN's Jeff Darlington.

While the Broncos aren't completely out of the picture based on that report, it does seem to open things up for the Texans. Without another suitor actively pursuing Romo as a Cowboy, the Texans should have considerably more leverage to land the passer they need. Yet there appears to be another snag to the plan.

Per ESPN's Adam Schefter on Twitter, Romo's options may be more broad than playing football. He could end up in the broadcast booth.

After what seemed like a surefire event of free agency, Romo may end up not even signing with an NFL team and instead turn to one of the major networks. This would be a major blow to the Texans, especially after jettisoning Brock Osweiler and a second-round pick in a trade to clear cap space for a quarterback like Romo.

Curiously, the Texans haven't appeared to be interested in bringing in anyone else other than Romo. It could be "Texans or bust" for Romo and "Romo or bust" for the Texans, but neither of the two parties have been able to come together for a mutually beneficial deal. Instead, with Jones pulling the strings, everything has been jumbled up with a serious lack of straightforward development.

Unfortunately, the latest news surrounding Romo—that of retirement or the Texans—may not be as good as it initially sounds to Houston fans. Ultimately, there are still more options for Romo aside from playing for Houston, and that could leave the Texans in the lurch.