Tony Romo is very much in the Cowboys’ long-term plans, at least if Jerry Jones is to be believed.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Jones asserted that not only will Romo be the team’s quarterback for the next year or two, but he anticipates Romo quarterbacking Dallas for as many as five more seasons.
“What is the one unequivocal fact that you can count on relative to the preparation of this draft and on draft day is that I’m planning on Romo being the quarterback for the next four or five years,” Jones said, via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. “That’s a fact. You won’t see a decision on draft day that will fly in the face of not believing from our standpoint that he’ll be our quarterback for four or five years.”
Romo turns 36 in April. If Jones is to be believed, the Cowboys intend to keep him under center through the age of 40. It makes sense to draft a quarterback and groom him for a year or two, but not for that long.
These comments would seem to cast some doubt on the notion of the Cowboys using their number four pick to draft Romo’s protege. Romo plans to have surgery to insert a protective plate into his collarbone which will hopefully keep him on the field where he couldn’t do so last season.
