"The Stack" 3-9-17
The Dallas Cowboys will release Tony Romo today making the veteran quarterback a free agent. Where will he land? Denver and Houston are the heavy favorites.
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The Stack is back on this Thursday and we have more college basketball conference tournament previews, but also some NFL news as well as free agency starts today at 4 PM ET. Before we get to that though, congratulations is in to Bucknell for winning the Patriot League championship last night over Lehigh so they are dancing. Now let’s get right to it and see what’s in “the stack” for today, Thursday, March 9th:
Tony Romo to be released
A move that just about everyone saw coming will be official later today when the Dallas Cowboys release veteran quarterback Tony Romo. The Cowboys couldn’t find a trade partner and despite owner Jerry Jones saying that he wants Romo on the team and that he would be on the team, Romo will be released. It makes sense. This is Dak Prescott’s team now. They have a lot of good young talent and now just need a few other pieces to get to the Super Bowl. Romo still has a couple of years at least left in him and his services will be highly sought after. Houston will look him. Denver most likely will look at him. Arizona seems unlikely given that they have a veteran starting quarterback in Carson Palmer. Don’t discount Kansas City inquiring and dare I say the New York Jets may be an option? Romo will sign with someone pretty quickly. He’ll be with a new team by the end of the weekend.
NFL free agency getting started
Even though NFL free agency doesn’t technically begin until 4 PM ET today, there are still plenty of wink, wink deals going on and teams can officially announce the signings at this time. It is the legal tampering, but don’t teams tamper to a degree at the NFL Combine and at other times throughout the season? We all know it happens. Having said that, there are some notable acquisitions that will soon become official. Brandon Marshall is staying in the New York City area, but will be playing for the Giants instead of the Jets. At least he is familiar with MetLife Stadium. Think about him and Odell Beckham Jr. on the same field. That is scary.
The San Francisco 49ers sure were busy and have really improved some of the talent on their team. They are bringing aboard quarterback Brian Hoyer, fullback Kyle Juszczyk, wide receiver Marquise Goodwin (he’s really fast) and they may bring in wide receiver Pierre Garcon. That’s much better than anything the 49ers had or did last year.
The Indianapolis Colts traded tight end Dwayne Allen to the New England Patriots. Patriots acquiring tight ends? Haven’t heard that one before. Just kidding, we all have. We’ll see what other deals will be made today.
Michigan plane skids off runway
The Minnesota Vikings had issues landing in Appleton, Wisconsin, before their Christmas Eve game against the Green Bay Packers back in December. That was due to some snow and ice. Wednesday, the Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball team had their own plane issues due to weather, but this time it was wind. And it sure was windy. I would know because it hit the Dakotas Monday and Tuesday and I drove through it or rather into it Tuesday night. Back to the Michigan men though. The plane had to abort takeoff and ended up skidding off the runway. Everyone is okay outside of a few cuts, but it is still a scary situation. Now the team will have to fly out early this morning to get to Washington D.C. for their game against Illinois which starts at noon ET. They most important thing is that everyone is fine, but it’s still a dangerous situation when weather is involved. We’ll see how this affects Michigan in todays game.
AAC Tournament preview (March 9-12th, Hartford, CT)
The American Athletic Conference tips off today in Hartford so you would think that would give UConn a chance, but they have been so bad this year and injuries are a reason why. Don’t see them winning. This is a two bid league. It’s Cincinnati and SMU. They’ll meet in the championship.
Predicted winner: Cincinnati
Big West Tournament preview (March 9-11th, Anaheim, CA)
The Big West is back to the Honda Center in Anaheim where they always are as the tournament tips off today. UC Irvine is a solid squad, but UC Davis may have something to say about that and the dark horse is Hawaii who now has new life in the tournament since they are postseason eligible now. In the end, I’ll go with Irvine.
Predicted winner: UC Irvine
WAC Tournament preview (March 9-11th, Las Vegas, NV)
The Western Athletic Conference is wacky. Can the Roadrunners from Cal-State Bakersfield repeat as champions as the tournament tips off today? I say no. Give me New Mexico State. Why you might ask? Just because they were leading at one point this season so I’ll give the two seed a shot.
Predicted winner: New Mexico State
Coming up Friday: Reaction to top stories in sports
