Clock strikes midnight on Tony Romo’s tenure with Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys will release quarterback Tony Romo on Thursday, according to sources, as expected.

The release comes on the first day of free agency, which was best for Romo.

The only remaining issue is whether the Cowboys will designate Romo as a post-June 1 release.

If he is released outright, the Cowboys immediately would gain $5.1 million in salary cap room. But he would count $19.6 million against the team’s salary cap this season.

If he is designated as a post-June 1 release, the Cowboys the can pay the $19.6 million over two seasons. It would count $10.7 million in 2017 and $8.9 million in 2018.

However, the team would have to carry his entire 2017 salary hit of $24.7 until June, limiting their flexibility in free agency.

Romo would consume $10.7 million of the ’17 salary cap and $8.9 million of the team’s payroll the next season.

The Denver Broncos and Houston Texans are considered the front-runners for the soon to be 37-year old quarterback, who leaves Dallas as the team’s all-time leading passer, but also one whose age and durability remain huge concerns.

The Cowboys were able to move on from Romo because of the emergence of 2016 rookie sensation Dak Prescott, who came to the team as a fourth-round project and ended up with the greatest statistical season ever by a first-year quarterback.

Romo broke a bone in his back in the third preseason game, sidelining him for the first nine games of the season. With Romo on the sidelines, Prescott led the Cowboys on a team-record 11-game winning streak en route to a 13-3 record. The Cowboys never looked back, winning the NFC East with the best record in the conference.

Romo, who missed 12 games in 2015 with a twice-fractured left clavicle, conceded the starting job to Prescott upon his return from injury. At the same time, he acknowledged he still had a desire to play and lead a team to the Super Bowl.

It set the stage for today’s transaction, officially bringing an end to the Romo era in Dallas.

It was one that began with hope and optimism as Romo-mentum took over the franchise in 2006 when then-coach Bill Parcells benched Drew Bledsoe midway though Game 6 for the unknown, undrafted free agent from Eastern Illinois.

Under Romo, the Cowboys went 6-4 and made the playoffs that season, losing a wild-card game in Seattle. He earned a Pro Bowl bid and launched a legion of so-called Romo-sapiens who remain loyal to this day.

It was that first season that offered the initial glimpse of Romo’s star-crossed tenure in Dallas.

His dropped a snap of a potential game-winning field goal in the wild-card loss to the Seahawks. Parcells, the Hall of Fame coach, retired 15 days after the loss, ending a four-year run in Dallas.

Romo seemed to put that moment behind him in his first full season as starter, under new coach Wade Phillips and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. Romo led the Cowboy to a 13-3 record and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs while throwing career-highs of 36 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.

The season ended in disaster, however, with a loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants after Romo and two teammates took a trip to Cabo during the bye week.

It was the essence of the Romo-coaster the Cowboys would ride throughout his tenure in Dallas.

That 13-3 season was followed by 9-7 in 2008 which included consecutive losses to end the season, one being a 44-6 blowout by the Philadelphia Eagles in the finale.

But in 2009 Romo led the Cowboys to an 11-5 mark and into the playoffs for the third time, including his second NFC East title.

He also picked up his first playoff win, over Philadelphia in the wild-card round, before losing at Minnesota in the divisional round.

The Cowboys were unable to build on that success the following year as Romo fractured his left collarbone six games into the season. The Cowboys started 1-7 and Phillips was fired in early November. Garrett was elevated to head coach and the Cowboys finished 6-10 with Romo on injured reserve.

What followed were three consecutive 8-8 seasons with Romo seemingly carrying the weight of the franchise on his back, passing for 90 touchdowns and 39 interceptions in 2011-2013 combined. Each year the Cowboys went into the final game with a chance at the playoffs, only to suffer a devastating setback.

That’s when Romo began accumulating back injuries.

He had surgery before the 2013 season to remove a cyst in his back. He then missed the final game of that season to repair a herniated disc in his back, requiring a second back surgery in as many seasons.

Romo rebounded in 2014, despite missing the entire off-season rehabbing from back surgery, with the finest and most efficient season of his career. He passed for 34 touchdowns and just nine interceptions while leading the Cowboys to a 12-4 mark and an NFC East title for the third time.

He overcame broken ribs and fractured bones in his back to finish second in league MVP voting behind Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers.

Romo followed with a playoff win against the Detroit Lions in the wild-card round before losing to the Green Bay Packers in a divisional game marred by the controversial catch/no-catch by receiver Dez Bryant.

Thoughts of the Cowboys building on that momentum and finally making a Super Bowl run in 2015 were ruined in Week 2 when Romo fractured his left clavicle.

Their 2-0 start was followed by seven consecutive losses. Romo returned in Week 11 to win two games before re-fracturing his clavicle. The Cowboys finished 4-12, including a 1-11 mark in games without Romo.

Another off-season surgery to strengthen his fractured clavicle had Romo optimistic of a bounce-back year for him and the team.

But that was before he injured his back against the Seahawks in the third preseason game, forcing the Cowboys to start the untested Prescott.

It proved the stopping point of a career ebb and flow for Romo during 14 years with the Cowboys.

He leaves as arguably the third-best Cowboys quarterback behind Hall of Famers and Super Bowl champions Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach.

He ranks first in franchise passing yards (34,183), 300-yard games (46), multi-touchdown games (79), 100-plus quarterback rating games ( 67) and career touchdowns (248) among others. His career passing rating of 97.1 is best in Cowboys history and behind only Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson and Tom Brady in NFL history.

As a result, consider this departure only temporary. Romo will certainly return one day to be enshrined in the team’s Ring of Honor.

This story was originally published March 8, 2017 at 1:40 PM with the headline "Clock strikes midnight on Tony Romo’s tenure with Dallas Cowboys."