Dallas Cowboys Not Drafting Quarterback, Looking At Robert Griffin, Johnny Manziel
From the archive: published Jan 27, 2016, 10 years ago. Details may have changed since.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones stated that his team was not committed to drafting a quarterback and will be looking at free agents as possible backups to often injured Tony Romo, according to NFL.
Those words may come as a bit of a surprise to casual fans who were fully aware that the Dallas Cowboys wasted their season because guys like Matt Cassel, Brandon Weeden, and Kellen Moore were unable to produce victories when Tony Romo was nursing a collarbone injury, but they do not shock observant fans who know that Jerry Jones and other general managers in the NFL like to bluff about what their upcoming plans are.
For all we know, Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys could end up using that fourth overall selection in the NFL Draft to grab someone like Jared Goff, the California Golden Bears quarterback, who is not only the consensus best passer coming out of college this year, but also someone that many experts believe has the potential to become the face of a franchise.
Even though he is nonchalant about spending a draft pick on a new passer, Jerry Jones was spotted shaking hands and speaking with North Dakota State Bison quarterback Carson Wentz at the Reese’s Senior Bowl, where Jason Garrett and the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff are working with the North team.
While there have been plenty of occasions where it has blown up in the face of a team, free agency is actually a very good place for NFL franchises to find quarterbacks, even though the overall depth at the position has declined severely over the past decade.
Neither Robert Griffin III and Johnny Manziel are free agents at the moment, so they don’t technically appear on the list of available quarterbacks, but most everyone is expecting the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns respectively to cut the chords with both guys because enough time and chances have been given to the former college superstars.
Troy Aikman is a former Dallas Cowboys quarterback who still has plenty of connections in the locker room, so when he states that either Robert Griffin III or Johnny Manziel are going to be the backup to Tony Romo next season, the words carry a lot more weight than if a fan or an outsider says it.
Johnny Manziel has all the talent in the world, as seen by how he carried the Texas A&M Aggies offense and captured the imagination of the sports world, but his inability to make the right decisions away from the field is something that should keep Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff up at nights.
While there may be people who are concerned about the Dallas Cowboys taking a risk on a question mark like Robert Griffin III and Johnny Manziel, Jerry Jones does not seem to share the same concerns, as he has been enamored at the thought of one of those guys taking over for Tony Romo someday.
