With free agency now officially underway with the start of the new league year, offseason has reached a crucial point for the Dallas Cowboys. Since teams have been actively talking to prospective free agents during the NFL's two-day free agency negotiating window, many deals have already been made and rumors of potential deals are flying across the league. Here are the latest Cowboys news & rumors you need to know:
Dallas to trade Tony Romo instead of releasing him
The Cowboys were expected to release Tony Romo today, but that is no longer the case. According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, the Cowboys are now trying to trade Romo to the Denver Broncos or Houston Texans.
Cowboys now expect to trade Tony Romo to Broncos or Texans, sources say. Broncos talking with Jets about Trevor Siemian.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) March 9, 2017
The Broncos and Texans are the two most likely landing spots for Romo if he does become a free agent. Denver recently said they were "ready to pursue" Romo on the open market.
This is a late ploy by the Cowboys to try and get something in return for Romo, hoping to create a bidding war between the Broncos and Texans. He is still very unlikely to be on Dallas' roster for much longer, whether it be via a trade or release, as the Cowboys don't want his $25 million cap hit on the books as Dak Prescott's backup.
Texans the favorite to acquire Romo
While the Broncos were expected to sign Romo if he became a free agent, the Texans are the ones now in the driver's seat to land him. They traded Brock Osweiler to the Browns to clear the necessary cap space needed for Romo, and now plan to aggressively pursue a deal for him.
Cowboys expected to draft a wide receiver
Now as for players who will be with the Cowboys next season, Dallas needs to find a wide receiver to replace Terrance Williams, who they are not expected to re-sign. They will look to find that replacement in the draft instead of in free agency, according to SB Nation's Michael Sisemore.
The Cowboys’ offense is very good but with the help of a young draft pick, they could become even more dynamic. Owner Jerry Jones has stated that there are two positions that must be addressed and the offense has one of them. It has to be at receiver because outside of Dez Bryant and Cole Beasley, both Butler and Lucky Whitehead are models of inconsistency. They have an undrafted free agent in Andy Jones but that doesn’t excuse them from making this a priority.
Some people might say that the front office’s current philosophies of avoiding free agency in the early stages can pigeon-hole themselves in the offseason. There is some truth in that statement but Dallas has decided that the very clear method in building a consistent winner is through the draft. Still, they only have seven draft picks that can only stretch so far. Just because you were able to hit on Ezekiel Elliott, Collins, Dak Prescott, and Anthony Brown all in one year don't mean that’s going to happen all over again. Free agency is evil but it’s a necessary evil and the Cowboys now have a few more openings to worry about.
Williams had 44 catches for 594 yards and four touchdowns last season.
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