Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo will undergo offseason collarbone surgery, according to Ed Werder of ESPN.com, who reports that Romo will have a plate inserted in his left collarbone in order to prevent future injuries. Romo has fractured his left clavicle three times in the past five seasons, most recently in November 2015.
A report yesterday indicated that Romo would undergo a CT scan this week, and Werder says that scan will help determine if Romo’s clavicle has healed enough to support that hardware that doctors will insert into his collarbone. “I think we know which way we’re siding and some of the things,” Romo said Saturday, in regards to the possibility of surgery. “We’ve had exhaustive discussions about it.“
Cowboy management expects a six-to-eight week recovery period from the date of the surgery, adds Werder (Twitter link). So depending on when the actual operation occurs, Romo should clearly be available for the beginning of the 2016 regular season. It’s unclear how much of Dallas’ offseason program Romo will be able to participate in, but it’s likely that the club will take a cautious approach.
On a macro level, the Cowboys are widely expected to add a quarterback via the draft this year, as the club has been devastated by a lack of options behind Romo (Dallas posted a 1-11 record in the absence of Romo in 2011). Romo, 36 in April, said yesterday that he expects to remain in the NFL “for awhile,” but the team plans to acquire more depth, especially given that Matt Cassel, last year’s No. 2 quarterback, is an unrestricted free agent.
