Tony Romo has decided to hang up his cleats in favor of a headset. The 36-year-old former quarterback will reportedly be joining CBS as their top analyst, replacing Phil Simms. The Cowboys will release Romo on Tuesday, making him a free agent, but he will elect to not sign with any teams at the moment and get ready for his first NFL season as a color commentator.

With his injury history, Romo is making the right decision.

Romo’s Recent Productivity

There is no doubt that Romo can still be a productive starting quarterback in the NFL. He has the fourth-highest passer rating in NFL history at 97.1 and teams in desperate need of a quarterback would have loved to have him as their starter.

His last fully healthy season was one of, if not his best, seasons of his career. In 2014 he led the Cowboys to a 12-4 record, but ended up losing in the playoffs to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. The game would bring a lot of fans to question what a catch actually is, as Dez Bryant’s catch on a crucial fourth and two was ruled incomplete as he didn’t keep possession of the football through hitting the ground.

Romo still had a very successful season, throwing for 34 touchdowns and only nine interceptions. He set his career-high for completion percentage in a season with 69.9 percent of his passes completed.

Since that season Romo has had to deal with injuries and rookie Dak Prescott taking over as starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.

Possible Landing Spots and Health Concerns

With all of the recent success and the chance to join teams that are a quarterback away from being true contenders, Romo is giving up a lot to go into broadcasting. If he were able to go to a new team and win a Super Bowl, he could even get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Romo is giving up a lot, but is also saving his health. He has been injured so many times in his NFL career, with a lot of them being serious injuries. While he has to be respected for his ability to suck it up and play through injuries, including a punctured lung, there comes a time when enough is enough.

He has three back and two shoulder injuries that will be wearing him down. The back injuries will be something he will have to deal with his whole life. It’s better to quit playing now than to chase down a Super Bowl on a new team. A lot of NFL players have to deal with injuries long after their playing days are over, but Romo has chosen to prevent any further damage.

The teams he was rumored to go to the most, the Texans and the Broncos, both have offensive line struggles at the moment. There is a good chance that he could get hit a lot more than behind the Dallas offensive line and re-injure himself. Denver allowed 40 sacks, while Houston allowed 32. Dallas on the other hand gave up just 28, all while Romo sat on the bench. While he could be the answer that each of these teams is looking for in their quest for a Super Bowl, the risk of injury behind their offensive lines is not worth it.

There is a chance Romo could come back to football, but for now he is going to get paid a lot of money to broadcast games. If Romo truly has played his last down in the NFL, he should be remembered as a Dallas Cowboy legend, who often didn’t have the team around him to support a Super Bowl run. His gutty performances playing injured and leading big comebacks will not be something forgotten by Cowboys fans any time soon.

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