Kansas City Chiefs: Tony Romo Retirement Is Hurdle For Drafting A Quarterback
By Ben Almquist
With Tony Romo apparently heading to retirement, the Kansas City Chiefs quest for a first round quarterback is going to be even more difficult.
Over the past few weeks, the Kansas City Chiefs have shown that they are clearly interested in getting a quarterback early in the draft. Of course, that is going to largely be contingent on the availability of a quarterback. That possibility got a lot smaller today as it has been reported that Tony Romo will retire from the NFL.
How does the retirement of Tony Romo affect the Chiefs draft strategy? Because it changes what many had considered a done deal for the Houston Texans. For the past couple of months, it has been widely assumed that the Texans would sign Romo to be their starter this offseason. If Romo is indeed retiring, that leaves Houston with just Tom Savage as their potential starter.
Earlier this offseason, Texans coach Bill O’Brien tried to downplay the team’s interest in Romo. O’Brien told reporters that Houston was prepared to move forward with Tom Savage. It took all of about two seconds for everyone to see through that. However, now that Tony Romo is apparently not an option, it changes things for Houston.
Tony Romo is leaving football and going into broadcasting, even with Dallas planning to release him today, sources tell @toddarcher and me.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 4, 2017
The Texans are almost certainly now in the market for a quarterback in the first round of the draft. With Houston picking two spots ahead of Kansas City, they are a major hurdle for the Chiefs. With several other teams believed to be in the market ahead of both teams, KC will have to be aggressive if they want to get their guy.
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With the Texans and Chiefs both being in the market for a quarterback late in the first round, this brings up another factor. Teams with picks late in the first or early in the second round will now be considering a trade up to get ahead of both KC and Houston.
There will also be teams in the middle of the first round who reconsider their draft strategy. That is especially true of the Arizona Cardinals who many feel would be a perfect location for Pat Mahomes. It would not be surprising to see other teams with early picks trading back to that area as well.
Ultimately, what this does is essentially ensure that the Kansas City Chiefs have to trade up if they want to draft a quarterback in the first round. Unfortunately, that means KC must invest heavily in a player that is guaranteed to not play in his first season, and it is unknown just when they will be ready. That’s a risky proposition.
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The Kansas City Chiefs are certainly in the market for a quarterback in the first round of the draft. However, that just got a lot harder to pull off. Things have not been breaking the Chiefs way for this decision. A questionable class of quarterbacks, a growing market of teams in need, and the Chiefs picking at the back end of the draft. It’s hard to see this working out.