Carter: Trade Romo for J.J. Watt

[HPF Bob]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/cr...-for-j-j-watt/

Romo plus Dallas' #1 choice (#28-30)

for J.J. Watt

Boo, ick. Let's get that out of our system now.

But here's a trade that works for both teams even though I would swallow hard on it because the Romo cap hit would make Ozzie's look like a picnic:

Romo to Houston for Brock Osweiler and Will Fuller.

Houston gets the very talented and uberfragile Romo, unload a bad QB with a bad contract (though not as bad as Romo's) and loses a solid receiver that keeps Cowboy Country from totally freaking out.

What Dallas gets is that they are free and clear of both Osweiler and Romo after 2017 and add a speedy weapon who can be used to open up the secondary for Dez Bryant and also become a game-breaking kick returner.

The salaries of the three largely balance out the trade but Houston is stuck with a cap hit until 2020 unless they keep Romo although the final years are reduce the cap hit to almost palatable.

If both sides are agreeable, Fuller could be replaced by Houston's #1 pick (25th overall) which then gives Jerrah a chance to trade up with his pair of low first-rounders.

If Romo can be kept healthy, the Texan offense would finally have the QB that could take them to the next level. If Romo can't stay healthy, there's no way to sugar coat what a bad trade this could become but it would show the Texans are willing to gamble to break through and challenge for a Super Bowl.

[chuck]

Who knew that the link between Buford and Cris Carter was Charley Casserly's pharmacist?

[nunusguy]

This would be a real sweet deal for Dallas but a sucker bet for the Texans.
Romo could play Samuel L.s role in "Unbreakable" and win an Oscar.
Of course there's no guarantees about Watt but I'm pretty confidant he's gonna be playing many more years after Romo has hung up his cleats.

[Arky]

Might be the biggest item of the off season - what to do about Brock? Keep him or move/dump him?

Going after Romo would be a no brainer, I'd say, but Brock is in the way.

The draft - drafting a QB in round 1 or 2 - might be the only source of improving the Texan QB situation.....

[chuck]

Even if I thought he'd stay healthy I would not trade for Romo because then you'd be on the hook for his contract. I would though sign any and all veteran quarterbacks who have been unceremoniously dumped from their teams up to and including Jay Cutler. Yes, Jay Cutler represents a significant step up from what we watched last year.

Of course I would also draft someone in the first or second.

[HPF Bob]

There's no way to keep the defense we've acquired and carry two huge contracts for quarterbacks. Therefore, the Texans have to send Osweiler away if they are going to add Romo, Brees, Rivers, etc. unless they pay still more to renegotiate and backload the other QB's deal. Therefore, we either have to devise a trade for Osweiler or get yet another QB on the cheap.

There's maybe a chance of a three-way trade where Ossie goes to the Rams or Jets or Browns along with draft picks, send a veteran QB to Houston and both send vets or picks to the team giving up the star QB but it's a tough sell.

[barrett]

If we trade Brock doesn't it accelerate his bonus money and we're still on the hook for it? With future guaranteed money owed you can't get rid of it in a trade, or teams would be paying to send their players to the teams with cap space.

[popanot]

Originally Posted by chuck

Even if I thought he'd stay healthy I would not trade for Romo because then you'd be on the hook for his contract. I would though sign any and all veteran quarterbacks who have been unceremoniously dumped from their teams up to and including Jay Cutler. Yes, Jay Cutler represents a significant step up from what we watched last year.

Of course I would also draft someone in the first or second.

Cut Brock, sign Cutler on a cheap 2-yr deal, draft Nate Peterman in the 2nd RD, move on...

As for Romo, no no. Only way I do him is if he renegotiates and is cheap, which probably isn't going to happen. Brees isn't going anywhere as long as Sean Payton is coaching there. The Chargers need Rivers more than Rivers needs the Chargers. They need to sell SOME tickets in LA so he's not going anywhere. Unfortunately, Cutler seems to be the only real bridge option that would be an upgrade (ugh!!) and reasonably priced.

[barrett]

What the Texans could do, though, is trade Osweiler to a team who would be willing to pay his $16 million base salary. Houston would be left with a far more palatable $9 million in dead money on its 2017 cap. The problem, of course, is that nobody would want to pay Osweiler $16 million for the 2017 season unless there were dramatic incentives and no better options around. The Browns could fit both of those shoes. They've repeatedly shown how significantly they value draft picks, are willing to be patient to receive those picks and have no clear path to a starting quarterback. Osweiler has been a mess in Houston, but he looked competent in Denver during the 2015 season behind a middling offensive line. Hypothetically, the Browns could offer a seventh-round pick to the Texans in exchange for Osweiler, a 2017 third-round pick and a 2018 first-rounder. Cleveland might not want Osweiler enough to find that to be worth $16 million, and Houston might not be willing to trade away two draft picks to move on from an expensive mistake. But the logic of using short-term cap space to trade for useful draft assets is there.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...re-hope-future

From a piece last month on the Browns. The only way we get out of part of Brock's salary is to convince someone to pay him $16 million. This simply isn't happening. Any team making a deal to get rid of their own unwanted player is better off keeping or cutting their unwanted player. So we are left with paying draft picks (hopefully not as much as this author suggests) for someone to park him for us. And we still owe $9 million this year if we do it. If we cut Brock he counts $25 million instead of $16 million.

So our guys will bring back BO and pair him with a rookie in training camp. They will all talk themselves into him improving in the offseason, and thus our season will probably be over in March when it's official we're keeping him. The only hope I see is if we pay him $16 million to be the inactive 3rd QB (or IR him to save both parties the embarrassment). Then we draft a QB in round 1 or 2 and move on like he doesn't exist as anything more than a $16 million cap penalty. But that route involves admitting we were wrong, so I bet he enters the year as the de facto starter with a rookie and Savage in a training camp 'battle'.

[Arky]

Video: Way too early Super Bowl 52 projections TRT 8:05

Teddy and Pauly go over the odds to win the next Super Bowl. Texans (+Romo?) get a mention around the 4:52 mark....