Cowboys All-Time Ranking Of Top 10 Undrafted Free Agents From Tony Romo To Drew Pearson

[KJJ]

Yeah. Probably not, but he has always been slighted.

The problem was some of his best years were with some bad Cowboys teams in the early to mid 60s. When the Cowboys starting getting good they were losing championship games to the Packers. They lost a playoff game to Cleveland in 69 and the SB to Baltimore a year later. The Cowboys had a choker reputation. The team always coming out on the short end really hurt his HOF chances. He also gets slighted for not being in the Cowboys ROH. If a player isn’t good enough for their own teams HOF they’re going to get overlooked.

 

[MoistMayonnaise]

2003.

Not in last 20 years.

I'll let you tell Pro Football Reference.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RomoTo00.htm

 

[irishline]

I'll let you tell Pro Football Reference.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RomoTo00.htm

Or we could go with when he was actually signed instead of when he started accumulating stats. Crazy, I know.

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/s...mo-dallas-cowboys-became-starting-quarterback

"As Romo confronts the possible end of his tenure in Dallas, we're reflecting on his improbable NFL journey. From undrafted free agent in 2003 to his move up the depth chart to the moment Parcells turned the team over to him on Monday Night Football on Oct. 23, 2006 -- 10 years ago this week -- teammates and coaches who watched Romo's ascent up close discuss what they saw in the quarterback and what landed him the job...

When Romo went to the NFL combine in 2003, he did more than other aspiring draft prospects. The league needed extra quarterbacks to throw to prospects who went through drills, so Romo stayed around longer than the rest of the group. The Cowboys were impressed with Romo's arm but not impressed enough to draft him. The Denver Broncos were among the teams trying to sign him as an undrafted free agent.

After Parcells was hired as the Cowboys' coach in 2003, he brought in Sean Payton -- like Romo an alumnus of Eastern Illinois -- as his quarterbacks coach.

Sean Payton, Cowboys assistant coach, 2003-05: "He was one of the guys at the combine that was there the whole week. Tony wasn't just throwing with the quarterbacks; he threw on Thursday, Friday and Saturday."

https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/news/cowboys-legend-romo-almost-played-qb-for-home-state-packers

 

[MoistMayonnaise]

Well, ya got me. Does this mean Jerral was once a good GM?

 

[gtb1943]

Are you serious? Green isn’t in the Hall of Fame or the Cowboys ROH. He was a really good player but NO WAY should he be number one on that list. I actually think he’s a little too high on that list.

4 Time ALL PRO and did it at CB and Safety
but then your knowledge of the boys of the past has been shown to be negligible.

 

[nobody]

What metric are you using? I kinda agree with you on Walls but no way Newton or Bates accomplished as much as Romo. Besides Romo gets extra markers for positional challenges IMO.

They helped contribute to Super Bowls. I know Romo had challenges, but in the end came up empty. Bates, Newton, and Walls all stepped up and helped the team achieve a championship. Is it a fair metric? Probably not, but that's how the NFL works.

Yes, I believe Romo likely would have gotten to a SB with a better defense, but it is what it is. Those other three were in positions to step up when it mattered and they did.

 

[gtb1943]

The problem was some of his best years were with some bad Cowboys teams in the early to mid 60s. When the Cowboys starting getting good they were losing championship games to the Packers. They lost a playoff game to Cleveland in 69 and the SB to Baltimore a year later. The Cowboys had a choker reputation. The team always coming out on the short end really hurt his HOF chances. He also gets slighted for not being in the Cowboys ROH. If a player isn’t good enough for their own teams HOF they’re going to get overlooked.

What an incredibly dumb post
His first ALL PRO was in 1966 which was a playoff season. You areally do know nothing about the boys

 

[gtb1943]

They helped contribute to Super Bowls. I know Romo had challenges, but in the end came up empty. Bates, Newton, and Walls all stepped up and helped the team achieve a championship. Is it a fair metric? Probably not, but that's how the NFL works.

Yes, I believe Romo likely would have gotten to a SB with a better defense, but it is what it is. Those other three were in positions to step up when it mattered and they did.

who is more important to a teams success?

 

[nobody]

who is more important to a teams success?

Obviously the QB, but it's not an all-time list of most important to success players, is it? It's a list of top 10 undrafted free agents. Look, I'm not disparaging Romo. He was a good QB, but in the end, wasn't able to make it over the hump, his fault or not. I'd take a Romo in his prime over Dak in his prime 10 out of 10 times. But results matter to me. It's a subjective list.

 

[gtb1943]

They helped contribute to Super Bowls. I know Romo had challenges, but in the end came up empty. Bates, Newton, and Walls all stepped up and helped the team achieve a championship. Is it a fair metric? Probably not, but that's how the NFL works.

Yes, I believe Romo likely would have gotten to a SB with a better defense, but it is what it is. Those other three were in positions to step up when it mattered and they did.

who is more important to a teams success?

Obviously the QB, but it's not an all-time list of most important to success players, is it? It's a list of top 10 undrafted free agents. Look, I'm not disparaging Romo. He was a good QB, but in the end, wasn't able to make it over the hump, his fault or not. I'd take a Romo in his prime over Dak in his prime 10 out of 10 times. But results matter to me. It's a subjective list.

Well lets see who spend more time with the Boys?
I get it; you blame Romo for us not going further.

 

[nobody]

who is more important to a teams success?

Well lets see who spend more time with the Boys?
I get it; you blame Romo for us not going further.

Sure...yeah, that's it. I only spent over a decade defending Romo from his attackers. Clearly I think he sucks because I rated a few players better than him. How dare I do that. We're done here. I'm not going to get into a childish accusation match. Bye.

 

[big dog cowboy]

I'll let you tell Pro Football Reference.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RomoTo00.htm

Eastern Illinois (1999–2002)
Dallas Cowboys (2003–2016)

Then there is this:

Romo did not initially receive an invitation to attend the 2003 NFL Combine, but received a late invitation to attend as an extra quarterback to throw passes to other prospects during drills. Despite intriguing some scouts, he went undrafted by any NFL team during the 2003 NFL draft. Throughout the draft, Romo was assured by Dallas assistant head coach Sean Payton of the Cowboys' interest (Romo was also intensely pursued by Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan), and shortly afterwards was signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Dallas Cowboys. Romo entered the 2003 training camp third on the Cowboys' depth chart behind Quincy Carter and Chad Hutchinson.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Romo

@MoistMayonnaise

 

[nobody]

Eastern Illinois (1999–2002)
Dallas Cowboys (2003–2016)

Then there is this:

Romo did not initially receive an invitation to attend the 2003 NFL Combine, but received a late invitation to attend as an extra quarterback to throw passes to other prospects during drills. Despite intriguing some scouts, he went undrafted by any NFL team during the 2003 NFL draft. Throughout the draft, Romo was assured by Dallas assistant head coach Sean Payton of the Cowboys' interest (Romo was also intensely pursued by Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan), and shortly afterwards was signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Dallas Cowboys. Romo entered the 2003 training camp third on the Cowboys' depth chart behind Quincy Carter and Chad Hutchinson.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Romo

@MoistMayonnaise

If I remember correctly, the Broncos were offering more money, but Payton convinced Romo his chances of playing were much higher with the Cowboys.

 

[Runwildboys]

Mark Tuinei was the starting LT on 3 Super Bowl winning teams.

How could Bill Bates possibly rank higher than Tuinei?

Does Brandon Aubrey count as a UDFA?

More "high profile", maybe? Bates got a lot of attention for his ST play, whereas Tuinei was just part of a great OL.

 

[BleedSilverandBlue]

What metric are you using? I kinda agree with you on Walls but no way Newton or Bates accomplished as much as Romo. Besides Romo gets extra markers for positional challenges IMO.

For all the crap he gets, Romo's career achievements given that he was an UDFA are pretty incredible.

People undersell how unlikely it was that he became one of the best QBs in the NFL for a decade.

Outside of Kurt Warner, he may be the greatest undrafted QB ever.

 

[Ranching]

Pretty good list. Biggest thing that stuck out to me was the lack of players from recent years. Only one (Bailey) in the last 20 years? Oh, Jerry that's right.

Over the decades, under Tex Schramm, Tom Landry and Gil Brandt, the Cowboys have found UDFA gems, an effort that continued under Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson and still continues today.
Richie Whitt
Dec 20, 2024

FRISCO - No team in the NFL can match the rich history of the Dallas Cowboys when it comes to signing undrafted free agents ... and working with them to develop the UDFAs into stardom.

Running back Rico Dowdle is presently making his case to appear somewhere on that list, with coach Mike McCarthy noting that the 2024 roster is dotted with so many UDFAs that is proves "we kick (expletive) in the eight round.''

10. Dave Manders
9. Dan Bailey
8. Mark Tuinei
7. Bill Bates
6. Nate Newton
5. Everson Walls
4. Tony Romo
3. Cornell Green
2. Cliff Harris
1. Drew Pearson

https://athlonsports.com/nfl/dallas...drafted-free-agents-tony-romo-to-drew-pearson

Was Herschel Walker drafted?

 

[big dog cowboy]

Was Herschel Walker drafted?

NFL draft: 1985 / round: 5 / pick: 114

 

[ShiningStar]

If I remember correctly, the Broncos were offering more money, but Payton convinced Romo his chances of playing were much higher with the Cowboys.

wasnt that hard. there was no one better and everyone knew it.

 

[Cowboys5217]

Outside of Kurt Warner, he may be the greatest undrafted QB ever.

He was a choker who couldn't even get a 13-3 one seed past the divisional playoff round.

 

[BleedSilverandBlue]

He was a choker who couldn't even get a 13-3 one seed past the divisional playoff round.

Name a better undrafted QB outside of Kurt Warner. You can’t. The next best is probably Warren Moon.

I didn’t call him the greatest QB ever. Just one of the greatest undrafted QBs ever.

Hate him however much you want, his career achievements are incredible given how much of an unknown he was coming out of college.