Tony Romo: Cardinals offered most money when UDFA in 2003
Apr 10, 2017, 11:29 AM | Updated: 3:52 pm
FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2017, file photo, Dallas Cowboys' Tony Romo smiles on the bench during the second half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia. A person with knowledge of the decision tells The Associated Press that the Dallas Cowboys will release quarterback Tony Romo when the NFL year opens on Thursday. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, on condition of anonymity because the team hasn't announced a decision on Romo, who will get a chance to pursue a starting job elsewhere. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Evidently if Tony Romo really cared about money, he would have been an Arizona Cardinal.
The quarterback, who recently announced he was leaving the NFL to become a broadcaster for CBS, told MMQB’s Peter King that in 2003, when he was an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Illinois, he had a handful of suitors.
According to Romo, it really came down to Denver or Dallas, though the Cardinals made an effort to land him.
“I actually wanted to go to Denver a little bit more, I felt like I had a better chance of making the roster,” Romo said. “The money … Arizona, I believe, offered the most, probably around $20,000 or $25,000, which was like being rich at that time. Denver came in and they were like 15 to 20, but they also had Mike Shanahan who I had strong respect for, and obviously the Cowboys came in. It was Mike Shanahan on one side and then Bill Parcells on the other. Sean would call in and then eventually he passed the phone to Jerry [Jones], so you went through the whole gamut.”
The Cowboys were offering a $10,000 signing bonus.
In 2003, the Cardinals were moving on from Jake Plummer and at quarterback featured veteran Jeff Blake and second-year pro Josh McCown. Their interest in Romo made sense, given that the small-school star left college as the Panthers’ all-time leader in touchdown passes, with 85, and was second in school history with 8,059 yards of total offense, 8,212 passing yards and 584 completions.
The Cardinals, you may recall, got one season out of Blake before handing the keys to McCown in 2004 before signing Kurt Warner in 2005.
Had the Cardinals convinced Romo to sign with them, there is no telling how history would have gone down. Though he was the team’s holder on field goals and extra points, Romo did not see any action as a quarterback until 2006, and by then had learned enough to come in and be effective.
Had he been a Cardinal, perhaps the team’s struggles at the position would have forced him onto the field sooner, and it’s possible he would have not been ready and fared poorly.
Of course, Romo the Cardinal is a purely hypothetical situation, and it does not sound like he really ever considered signing with the Arizona more than a decade ago. But the Cardinals did try, which could lead to some pondering the very question that irks many a fan:
What if?
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