Tony Romo, who will almost definitely not be with the Cowboys when the regular season begins, still resides on the Cowboys’ roster. After a brief dead period, some news regarding Romo’s future in Dallas emerged on Monday.

According to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo, the Cowboys have given teams permission to talk to Romo and schedule a workout or a physical. But there’s a catch: They can only talk to him about his contract.

It’s been assumed for a while now that the Cowboys will eventually release Romo so that he can finish out his career as a starting quarterback, but before that happens, it definitely seems like the Cowboys are hoping to find a trade partner so that they don’t lose Romo for nothing. Garafolo’s report makes that much clear. 

But as former agent and CBS Sports writer Joel Corry pointed out, it’s going to be difficult for the Cowboys to enforce their rule.

Regardless of how the talks proceed, don’t expect anything to happen by way of a trade. In a detailed breakdown of how the Cowboys’ breakup with Romo should be handled, Corry explained why Romo is unlikely to lower his salary to help the Cowboys complete a trade:

Don’t expect Romo to renegotiate his contract to a lower salary to help facilitate a trade as some have suggested. The remaining $54 million over the next three seasons is actually a reasonable amount for a starting quarterback. Mike Glennon, an unproven commodity who has thrown just 11 passes over the past two seasons, signed a three-year, $45 million contract with the Bears in free agency. His first-year salary is $16 million.

In 2016, the average yearly salary for a starting quarterback on a veteran contract was just above $19.475 million, which is close to a 13 percent increase from 2015’s $17,283,333 number. This figure is expected to go up for 2017 with Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins, Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford potentially receiving long-term contracts that should exceed Andrew Luck’s $24.594 million per year, which makes him the NFL’s highest-paid player.

So, the most likely scenario still sees the Cowboys, who are set at quarterback with Dak Prescott, releasing Romo. Though playoff-caliber teams like the Texans and Broncos are in dire need of a capable quarterback, they’re unlikely to trade for Romo when they know he’s going to be available as a free agent before the season begins. Jerry Jones recently revealed that he’ll wait as long as training camp to make a decision. So, they might be in for a long wait. 

Once Romo is released, expect the Texans to go after him hard. Here’s what CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora wrote from the NFL owners meetings last week:

The most important position in all of team sports -- and the very position that O’Brien made his calling card on the way to the pinnacle of his profession -- remains a quandary in Houston, and the fascination with Romo won’t be dissipating anytime soon.

It makes all the sense in the world. It makes too much sense not to happen, frankly. There are no better-placed suitors (frankly, it might be Houston or bust for Romo at this point as the Broncos’ interest seems middling at best). The need in Houston is present and acute. And did I mention that Romo would absolutely love to play there and they’ve been a coveted destination for him throughout this unduly long process all along?

For now, this prolonged game of chicken between the Cowboys and Romo’s suitors continues.