It was not all that long ago that Dallas could not win a game if quarterback Tony Romo was not leading the offense. The 14-year veteran has suffered through his fair share of injuries over the past few seasons and when he went down early this preseason with a broken bone in his back, most NFL experts wrote the Cowboys off for this year.
Romo’s latest injury paved the way for fourth-round draft pick Dak Prescott to take over as the team’s new starter. Eight wins later against just one loss, it appears that Dallas is doing just fine without Romo under center. He himself conceded the starting role to Prescott in a press conference earlier this week which created some wide-scale speculation as to what his future in Big D might hold. Romo will still be under contract next season, but it remains to be seen if team owner/general manager Jerry Jones will be willing to pay him starter’s money to play a backup role. It also remains to be seen whether Romo will try and force a trade or outright release to resume his career as a starter with a different team.
The prop bet odds at top offshore sportsbooks that have been posted this week concerning his playing future favor him staying in Dallas for the 2017 season at +200. If he does part ways with the Cowboys this offseason, the Denver Broncos appear to be the favored landing spot at +250 betting odds. The Arizona Cardinals are likely to part ways with their veteran quarterback Carson Palmer, who will be a free agent next year so it is easy to see why their odds to land Romo have been set at +300.
The Chicago Bears are next on the list at +1000 followed by Kansas City at +1500 and the New York Jets at +1600. The odds that Romo leaves Dallas but stays in Texas with Houston have been set at +1800. A few of the other teams with betting odds in this special player prop include Minnesota and Los Angeles at +2000. Jacksonville is on the board at +2500 and the longshot of the group is Cleveland at +10000.
When it comes to betting this prop there are a couple of things to take into consideration. The first is the play of Prescott itself. There is no doubt that he has taken Dallas by storm in his first nine games as the starter, but what happens if things start to go south once the month of December rolls around. He has been steady as a rock so far, but with the Cowboys sitting at the top of the NFC right now, the pressure is only going to get dialed up from here on in. I do not think that Jones would hesitate one second to go back to Romo if Prescott does falter down the stretch. This could set the stage for the grand return of the wiley old veteran that ends with a trip to the Super Bowl.
Going with the assumption that the rookie keeps playing at a high level, you would then have to ask yourself how much does Romo actually have left in the tank to take over the starting roll with another team? Over the past few seasons he has not proven to be durable enough to last an entire 16-game schedule and you know he would not come cheap. Romo definitely established himself as a very good NFL quarterback over the course of his career, but I would not put him in the same category as Joe Montana and Brett Favre, who were both able to successfully extend their careers with other teams.
I think the oddsmakers are trying to bait the betting public with these prop bet odds. I see Jones and Romo coming to some kind of arrangement that will allow Tony to ride out his remaining playing days as a Cowboy.
