Tony Romo is interested in being the next old quarterback to lead the Broncos to glory

The Dallas Cowboys will attempt to trade veteran quarterback Tony Romo during the offseason. He still wants to play, and isn’t likely to get the chance to do it in Dallas now that Dak Prescott is ascendant. So an offseason deal makes sense if he can land with the right team. One of those potential destinations is the Denver Broncos, which Romo reportedly has some interest in as his next team, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

(We took a closer look at what Romo on the Broncos would mean, whether it would work, etc.).

Romo has made it clear this season that he still wants to play. More than that, he still wants to be a team’s franchise quarterback, not just some guy with a clipboard.

The Cowboys have expressed interest in keeping Romo beyond this season, at least that’s what they say publicly. If they did, he’s got a cap hit of $24.7 million, which isn’t that difficult to absorb given that Prescott is a fourth-round pick with three more years left on his rookie deal.

If Dallas trades him, it leaves the team with $19.6 million in dead money on the cap in 2017, but frees it up from the contract burden after that.

The Broncos have experience signing veterans in the twilight of their career — and winning with them. Denver was Peyton Manning’s last stop after leaving Indianapolis, and he played there from 2012 through 2015, winning a Super Bowl with them in his last season, which was, funny enough, his least effective year.

Denver meets a couple of important qualifications for Romo. Number one, the Broncos are a Super Bowl contender, a team with a loaded roster that has a legitimate shot at winning it all. It wouldn’t make much sense for a guy who’ll be 37 years old to spend his last seasons with a rebuilding team.

Romo would also be a pretty good fit for Gary Kubiak’s offense, a zone-blocking scheme which leans heavy on the running game and play-action passes. It’s not that different to what Romo’s been doing in Dallas.

He’d also be there to mentor Paxton Lynch, a first-round pick this year, assuming the Broncos don’t end up feeling the same way about Lynch as they did Brock Osweiler, which turns out to be pretty smart in hindsight.

The Broncos are currently projected to have $36.9 million in cap space next season, which should be enough to take on Romo’s deal. However, that would probably necessitate moving some dollars elsewhere on the roster.