Assuming Tony Romo gets healthy this offseason and allows his fractured collarbone to properly heal, the Dallas Cowboys are set at starting quarterback heading into 2016. That doesn’t mean they are opposed to using a high draft pick for a player at that position.
The Cowboys have the No. 4 overall pick in the upcoming draft, which gives them great flexibility. They can draft an impact player, trade out or start thinking about their long-term future. Director of player personnel Stephen Jones has not ruled out taking a quarterback in the first round.
“That’s obviously what you fight over,” Jones told Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports from the Senior Bowl on Tuesday. “But when you look at what happened with Aaron Rodgers [learning behind Brett Favre], you look at Tony Romo sitting for three years … you look at these guys who sit and watch for three years, and then they go on and have the success that they have. You can live with that.”
Romo will be 36 next season, and he is not exactly the model of health. Jones made it clear that the team also takes that into consideration.
“You can’t put your head in the sand [with Romo’s health],” he said. “He’s certainly had some injuries. We have to be aware of that. If we do decide to pick a quarterback fairly high, Tony’s a great example of how it can serve a young quarterback well to watch for two or three or four years, whatever that number is going to be. Obviously we think Tony is our best chance to go win a Super Bowl. We think he will be that guy for the next three or four years.”
There are a few NFL quarterbacks who are older than Romo — Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Carson Palmer — and still playing at a high level. Romo generally does the same when he can stay on the field.
Speculation has been building that the Cowboys have interest in North Dakota State QB Carson Wentz, and they could conceivably move back a couple spots and still get him. Heck, even Jerry Jones recently hinted that the team could use a top-10 pick on a quarterback.
Interestingly enough, Troy Aikman said this week that he believes either Johnny Manziel or Robert Griffin III will be Romo’s backup in 2016. RG3 is expected to become a free agent, while Manziel could be released if party videos like this one keep surfacing.
Could Dallas draft a quarterback and sign RG3 or Manziel as a “veteran” backup? It seems unlikely, but we never rule anything out with the Jones family.
