Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would love to put his team in a situation whereupon the retirement of Tony Romo there is already another start quarterback lined up to replace him. He sees what the Green Bay Packers were able to accomplish with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers and would be thrilled to be able to replicate that type of scenario in Dallas.
Jones elaborated, via Todd Archer of ESPN.com:
“You look at examples of Rodgers and you look at the example that he got to come in there and work behind Favre,” Jones said. “Rodgers came from a different system in college. He saw the most freewheeling successful quarterback there’s ever been in this league. He saw that work. He added that to his game. It helped him become even more the type in that system than when he came in. Something like that could happen if we decided to go quarterback at some level. I emphasize that – at some level.”
Given the fact that Jones sees Romo as the quarterback of the Cowboys for four or five more years, it seems highly unlikely that Dallas will spend its No. 4 overall pick on a quarterback this year. This is especially true when you consider the fact that there isn’t a “can’t-miss” passer in the draft to compare with the likes of Andrew Luck.
However, it would not be surprising at all to see Dallas take a shot at one of the quarterbacks left standing after Round 1 this April.
Guys like Connor Cook, Cardale Jones or even Vernon Adams Jr. fit this mold. None of them are close to being ready to play in their first year as a pro, but they could certainly develop if given a few years to learn behind Romo.
Jones loves what Romo brings to the table when it comes to developing a Rodgers-type successor.
“If a player came in here and played behind him 3-4 years, he would come out with a Harvard degree in how to play quarterback, in my mind,” Jones said. “He would be that influential. And it would open up an area of how to play the game that we all would agree has a certain unique style to it, Romo. Just like, say, Favre did with Rodgers.”
On the surface, this is obviously an ideal situation.
Unfortunately, nobody knows if Romo will actually be able to play for another half-decade, let alone another half-season. He’s been injury-prone the last few years, despite Dallas’ efforts to compile one of the best offensive lines in football.
But Jones is an optimist of the highest order and he’s not going to see things that way. He truly believes Romo is still going to be around for the long haul and isn’t likely to be enticed into taking a quarterback at the top of the draft who might be more pro-ready, should Romo go down once again in the middle of the season.