The Kansas City Chiefs should say “No” to Tony Romo. The Dallas Cowboys quarterback is not a bad quarterback by any means. However, there are a couple of red flags that teams should address before they agree to sign him. To start, Romo will be 37 years old before training camps even start for the NFL. Besides the ageless wonder, Tom Brady every other quarterback starts to show signs of their age around this time. Romo is no exception. He hasn’t even played all 16 games since the 2012 season.
No More Leftover Quarterbacks for the Kansas City Chiefs
Tony Romo wouldn’t be the first aging quarterback to come to Kansas City in hopes of resurrecting his career. Kansas City, unfortunately, has a long history of getting other teams castaways. This includes current quarterback, Alex Smith, and even backup Nick Foles. Hell, even their third string quarterback was an undrafted free agent. The Chiefs haven’t drafted a quarterback in the first round since Todd Blackledge. Blackledge was selected in the infamous 1983 NFL draft ahead of Hall of Famers Jim Kelly and Dan Marino. The former Penn State quarterback never even played a full season for the Chiefs.
History with the San Francisco 49ers
Kansas City’s most famous quarterback trade partner is the San Francisco 49ers. The most famous player in this trade would easily be Joe Montana. The 49ers decided to move on with Steve Young and traded Montana to the Chiefs. The four-time Super Bowl winner would play the 1993 and 1994 season with the Chiefs but never take them to the promised land. Steve Bono also played for the 49ers before coming to Kansas City. Starting quarterback Alex Smith played seven seasons with the Niners before he was traded to the Chiefs after Colin Kaepernick stole the starting role in the bay area. Now that Kaepernick is a free agent, Smith probably wants him to stay far away from the Kansas City metro area.
Draft a Quarterback
It is a scary role for a team to take but there’s only one way Kansas City can fix this issue. Draft a quarterback in a reasonable round. No more fifth round draft pick. No more Trent Green, Tyler Thigpen, Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac, and Damon Huard to name a few. The list in all reality could go on forever. Even legendary Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson played for two different teams before coming to Kansas City. Tony Romo was mentioned before because he is being linked lately to Kansas City and it looks attractive to Chiefs fans. Alex Smith is well known for checking down to his safety valve receiver which is usually the running back. Tony Romo is known for not being afraid to go deep and open the field. However, Romo got hurt behind the Dallas offensive line which is regarded as the best in the NFL. There is very little chance he will be able to stay healthy behind the Chiefs line.
Super Bowl Window
A lot of people believe that the Chiefs are built and have a possibility of making it to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, Kansas City still only has one win in the playoffs in over two and a half decades of football. The best option for a quarterback is to draft someone in the first or second round and let them sit behind Smith for a season or two. Andy Reid is known for having a complicated system and sitting behind a quarterback like Smith will give the young player time to learn and grow before starting a regular NFL game. Until that time fans should get comfortable with Alex Smith’s approach to offense and see if he will ever improve. During that time though they can look at the sideline and see the possible future that could very well be bright.
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