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Dallas Cowboys Rumors: Team Likely To Use No. 4 Draft Pick For Jared Goff Or Carson Wentz To Replace Tony Romo

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 17:33 PST, Feb 24, 2016

The Dallas Cowboys are rumored to be doing some quarterback shopping, with sources saying the team is seriously considering drafting Jared Goff or Carson Wentz with the No. 4 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft as part of the Tony Romo succession plan.

The Cowboys got a glimpse of how the other half lives this season, struggling with poor quarterback play from a string of backup-level players while Romo was on the sidelines for most of the year. If the team wasn’t already thinking about finding a replacement for their 35-year-old quarterback, they certainly will be now.

It could be the perfect time to do it. The team holds the No. 4 pick in the draft, and rumors indicate that the Dallas Cowboys are interested in either Goff or Wentz.

Team vice president Stephen Jones hinted at that in an interview this week.

“I mean you have to look at it,” Jones told Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “You’re not naive to it but if you have the opportunity in this league, in our situation, to get a potential franchise quarterback, then you have to make the investment. You have to have the patience. You sacrifice maybe that opportunity that maybe is impactful right now.”

As Pro Football Talk noted, Romo’s likely return next season means the team will be back in the top half of the league, and this could be the only opportunity to grab a top quarterback.

“Jones said that Romo ‘may play three of four more years,’ which would ostensibly keep the Cowboys out of the top of the draft order. So the opportunity to get one now may be something they can’t pass up, regardless of how long they think he might play.”

For the rumors surrounding the Dallas Cowboys to come true, the team would have to catch a bit of luck. Ahead of them in the draft order are the quarterback-starved Cleveland Browns, who could likely take one of the top signal callers available.

The other teams ahead of the Cowboys are the Tennessee Titans and San Diego Chargers, and while neither is in need of a quarterback there is always the possibility that they could trade back to a team that is in need of a top-flight quarterback.

At this point, it’s not entirely clear whether Cal star Jared Goff or North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz would be considered No. 1 in the draft. While Goff had long been considered the top pick, as so often happens the lesser-known player has grabbed all the buzz. Wentz is rising quickly on draft boards, especially after reports from the combine that Goff may have smaller-than-average hands, a bad trait for an NFL quarterback.

The Mercury News reported that many now have Wentz above Goff on the draft board.

“As it stands, two notable draft analysts — Mike Mayock of the NFL Network and Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN — are among those to project that Wentz will get the nod over Goff as the first quarterback taken.

“The Cleveland Browns, with the No. 2 overall pick, are expected to pounce on one of them.

“‘I think it’s a flip of a coin right now between those two quarterbacks,’ Kiper said on a conference call Monday.”

There have actually been widespread rumors about what the Dallas Cowboys might do to address their quarterback situation. Many expected the team to take a run at Robert Griffin III — whom owner Jerry Jones had gushed about in the past — but now many including 247Sports are reporting that Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Lineman is “not a fan” of Griffin. Past rumors had also connected Johnny Manziel to the Cowboys, but that was before his latest string of bad behavior.

So the rumor that the Dallas Cowboys will use their No. 4 pick in either Jared Goff or Carson Wentz may make the most sense.

[Picture by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images]

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