The Denver Broncos were connected to Tony Romo for a significant part of the 2017 offseason. As it turns out, he may have been closer to joining the team way back in 2003.

Having gone undrafted in the 2003 NFL Draft, there were several teams interested in Romo’s services. Two teams that were pushing hard were the Broncos and Arizona Cardinals. If it only came down to those two, he may have been donning orange and blue.

“I actually wanted to go to Denver a little bit more, I felt like I had a better chance of making the roster,” Romo told Monday Morning Quarterback. “The money … Arizona, I believe, offered the most, probably around $20,000 or $25,000, which was like being rich at that time. Denver came in and they were like 15 to 20, but they also had Mike Shanahan, who I had strong respect for.”

Like Shanahan, Romo played quarterback at Eastern Illinois. At the time, the Broncos’ quarterbacks were Jake Plummer and Danny Kanell. Kanell was coming off a stint in the Arena Football League. There was an opportunity at the quarterback position in the Mile High City.

Enter the Cowboys.

“The Cowboys came in,” Romo said. “It was Mike Shanahan on one side and then Bill Parcells on the other. Sean [Payton] would call in and then eventually he passed the phone to Jerry [Jones], so you went through the whole gamut.”

Payton also played quarterback at Eastern Illinois. The Cowboys also didn’t exactly have established quarterbacks on their roster, with Quincy Carter, Chad Hutchinson and Clint Stoerner. There was a potential opportunity there, but they were only offering a $10,000 signing bonus.

In the end, Romo went with his gut and headed to the Lone Star State. Click here to read the whole MMQB article by Peter King.