Elway and Joseph open up on speculation surrounding Tony Romo

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — For the first time since free agency opened last Thursday, John Elway and Vance Joseph took questions from the media at the UCHealth Training Center. In what was scheduled to be a press conference introducing their two new defensive lineman—Domata Peko and Zach Kerr—the focus shifted to the most talked about quarterback in America this offseason: Tony Romo.

With reports picking up steam this past weekend tying the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans as frontrunners to land the 36-year old quarterback, general manager John Elway was quick to shut down any ideas of a potential trade to acquire the signal caller.

“Tony’s under contract still,” the GM said on Monday. “Nothing has changed since the combine. We are excited about the two guys that we have here and feel like we are in good space there.”

In Elway’s denial of potentially picking up the quarterback, he specifically referenced Romo still under contract with the Dallas Cowboys, a sign that he isn’t interested in trading for him. However, when asked if this could change if Romo’s availability changed, Elway was more open to the idea.

“As I said, we are always looking at options. That’s why, until we get to 90 [players], we are looking at all options that we can look at every position,” he said. “We never say never… I stay open to everything, and we will see how things go.”

Head coach Vance Joseph later doubled-down on Elway’s sentiment regarding the veteran quarterback and placed his confidence in the two quarterbacks currently on the roster: Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch.

“[Romo’s] under contract and we’re comfortable with our two young guys. We really are,” Joseph said. “Until something happens there with Tony, it’s a non-issue with us. It really is, guys. We haven’t met one time about that because we can’t, it’s a non-issue, he’s under contract, we have two good, young quarterbacks that we’re happy about and we’re going to put our focus there.”

With a countless number of rumors and reports connecting the Broncos and Romo to each other in various capacities dating back to the middle of the last season, Elway said to not trust all of it.

“I will just tell you this, there has been a lot of things out there that aren’t true as far as what’s going on with our quarterbacks,” he said. “That’s what happens, everything gets frothed up there, and so we continue to go down our path, and that’s to continue to stay open, and when things come available, we look at them at that point in time.”

That point in time, of course, referring to if, and most likely when, the Cowboys decide to release Romo. At this point in time, it seems as if the Broncos are doubling down on their outward appearance that they will not trade for Romo’s services, instead trying to force Dallas to release him.

Whether or not it’s Romo on the roster in a few days or a few weeks, Joseph said that there will be a third quarterback in the mix by the start of next season.

“We will add a third [quarterback],” he said. “You need a third just for arm talent in camp and for injuries and those things. We will add a third eventually.”

What is known is there will be another quarterback added to the roster at some point. What is still unknown is whether it will be Romo to take starting job or someone else to merely fill a roster spot. As of Monday, the Broncos will keep an eye on Romo’s employment status with the Cowboys.