Tony Romo Granted Release Amid Retirement, CBS Broadcasting Career

The Dallas Cowboys granted former starting quarterback Tony Romo his release Tuesday after Dak Prescott took the reins of the team's offense with a terrific rookie campaign in 2016.   

Ed Werder of ESPN.com first reported the high-profile roster move. ESPN.com's Todd Archer confirmed the Cowboys placed a post-June 1 designation on the release.

John Ourand of Sports Business Daily passed along news that Romo will join CBS for the 2017 season as the network's top color commentator alongside Jim Nantz, replacing Phil Simms. The report noted Fox Sports also showed interest.

"We are discussing with Phil his future role with CBS Sports," the network said in a statement, per Ourand. CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said he hopes to retain Simms in some capacity, per Bob Glauber of Newsday. 

Romo shared a picture of his new "jersey" on Twitter: 

He expanded on the news, via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle: "I have always known once my playing career was over I wanted to become a broadcaster. Going from one legendary team to another as I begin the next phase of my career is a dream come true."

The Cowboys also released a statement, via Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network:

Romo's status became one of the season's biggest stories once Prescott established himself in the starting role. A preseason back injury thrust the Mississippi State product into immediate action, and he responded by leading Dallas to an NFC-best 13-3 record in the regular season.

The fourth-round selection finished his first NFL campaign with a 104.9 passer rating, which ranked third in the league behind Matt Ryan and Tom Brady, respectively. He also put up 315 total yards and three touchdowns in the team's 34-31 playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram passed along comments in November from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who said there were "no plans" to move on from Romo before the 2017 campaign.

"Let me say this—it is very tenable to long term, look at this situation, very tenable, for me on a long-term basis," Jones said. "I don't want to go any further than that. But it's very tenable for me to see a long-term basis us being strong at quarterback. That's where we are with these two."

Jones seemed to change his tune following the season, though. During a radio interview on 105.3 The Fan in mid-January (via Marc Sessler of NFL.com), he provided a more generic answer when asked about Romo's future.

"I don't have to get into that at all, and I'm not," he said. "As a matter of fact, there are several cards to be played. Don't think for one minute if you see something written or something said about what and where Romo is going to be relative to our team that there's any credibility to it."

Jones added: "There's only one that can make that decision, and there's been no decision made."

According to Spotrac, releasing Romo, who had a $24.7 million cap hit for 2017, will leave $19.6 million in dead space. But Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk pointed out a post-June 1 designation splits the cost between 2017 ($10.7 million) and 2018 ($8.9 million).

Dallas can use those savings to upgrade its roster elsewhere. It will likely spend most of the money on the defensive side of the ball. The unit ranked 13th in sacks, 14th in yards allowed and tied for 19th in takeaways during the 2016 season.         

Meanwhile, Romo could still become a red-hot commodity on the open market if he changes his mind and decides to play in 2017. SportsCenter's Dianna Russini summed it up well: "I still don't think this Tony Romo story is over...let's see what happens after the draft."

The Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans and New York Jets could all seek a quarterback upgrade if they don't acquire one in April's draft.