Cowboys "Neglected" QBs before/after Aikman retired

[PA Cowboy Fan]

This was a point I wanted to make but didn't want the thread to be too long and unreadable. There was very little that the Cowboys could have done slightly before and right after Aikman. With the benefit of hindsight, it was probably prudent to push all the chips in on Aikman and try for another SB, not chip away at the team trying to find his replacement early(Not the Galloway trade. I don’t condone that).

I feel the same about Romo. It could very well be 5+ years before we see a real opportunity at a franchise caliber QB after Romo retires. Do we really want to pull resources away from a very good team to put into his replacement, even though history tells us that player has a 95% chance of not being the future QB anyways? Is that 5% chance that player is the heir worth losing a very good chance at adding a contributor? I would say no for the most part. The only exception for me is if a stud QB prospect is unexpectedly on the board. If so, you probably have to take him just because it is so hard to find them. Otherwise, wait for Romo to either retire or decline enough where the need os apparent.

And what happens if Romo gets hurt again next year? Nobody knows how long he's got. Are we just supposed to wait until we absolutely have to. It will be another wasted season. I'm not saying to reach for a pick but the team has to start planning for the future. Romo can say all he wants that he plans to play for 5 more years but it doesn't make it so. Age doesn't discriminate.

 

[Risen Star]

You can't hit the target if you don't fire the bullet.

Great post.

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

You can't hit the target if you don't fire the bullet.

Great post.

 

[CWR]

So we all know drafting QB's is a crapshoot. Knowing that, it's better to do nothing than to try beating the odds?

No, not at all. I believe the odds are against you and the best system is to draft mid round qbs almost yearly like the Pats for example. Develop them and go with the best one you have. You can trade away the others when their stock is higher. I know nobody wants to waste picks but the position changes the entire franchise trajectory. Like the previous poster stated, you will never hit the target if you don't fire a bullet.

 

[zrinkill]

Troy Aikman retired in 2000
Tony Romo was signed in 2003

Never understood why people think we went through years and years looking for a QB

 

[ShiningStar]

Troy Aikman retired in 2000
Tony Romo was signed in 2003

Never understood why people think we went through years and years looking for a QB

Tony Romo was pure luck, Just by him being a non drafted guy look how long it took fans to understand how good he is.

How many qbs were trotted out between Aikman and Romo?

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

Troy Aikman retired in 2000
Tony Romo was signed in 2003

Never understood why people think we went through years and years looking for a QB

We lucked out and nobody knew what we had in Tony in 2003. It wasn't until 2006 that he started and except for one year where Bledsoe was just okay, the Cowboys QB's were awful.

 

[DoomsDayD]

And what happens if Romo gets hurt again next year? Nobody knows how long he's got. Are we just supposed to wait until we absolutely have to. It will be another wasted season. I'm not saying to reach for a pick but the team has to start planning for the future. Romo can say all he wants that he plans to play for 5 more years but it doesn't make it so. Age doesn't discriminate.

You cannot hit he nail more squarely on the head then you just did!!!!!! Congratulations!!!!

 

[lostar2009]

Drafting a QB when you don't have a proven one is a no brainer. Drafting a QB when one you have highly rated falls to you is a no brainer(Rodgers). Reaching for a QB when you have a franchise QB is frequently a way to limit what your current team is able to do in the 2-3 year window. There's no right answer.

Yup I also wonder why Arod wasn't put on the list? That year Dallas had 2 first round picks and Drew Brees was already in his last years. Rod could have been stash and allow to develop. Romo was still under development at that time.

 

[lostar2009]

Troy Aikman retired in 2000
Tony Romo was signed in 2003

Never understood why people think we went through years and years looking for a QB

The amount of sub par talent we went through age the fans severly.

 

[cml750]

Drafting a QB is a gamble no matter where they are taken. There are so many bust even if they are number one picks. We got REALLY lucky with Romo. The biggest mistake we have made recently is not having a decent backup QB when Romo is getting up in age and has a history with injuries.

 

[Nightman]

And what happens if Romo gets hurt again next year? Nobody knows how long he's got. Are we just supposed to wait until we absolutely have to. It will be another wasted season. I'm not saying to reach for a pick but the team has to start planning for the future. Romo can say all he wants that he plans to play for 5 more years but it doesn't make it so. Age doesn't discriminate.

With Romo we can win the Super Bowl. Without him it would be a miracle.

We have to plan around Romo being the QB for as long as he wants to play.

We can't waste top picks on an insurance policy that may not even pay off.

Just try to do a better job of picking backup QBs. Weeden in hindsight was a colossal mistake that a lot of people called with foresight. His price and draft position blinded the FO and many of us. "He can't be that bad" or "Get him out of CLE".

 

[khiladi]

If it weren't for Sean Payton, there would have been no Romo..

During those years the FO was gushing about Drew Henson and Chad Hutchinson and Bledsoe and Carter...

 

[cej757]

I still think it's just a matter of time before Rg3 comes to Dallas. Probably will happen in 2017.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

With Romo we can win the Super Bowl. Without him it would be a miracle.

We have to plan around Romo being the QB for as long as he wants to play.

We can't waste top picks on an insurance policy that may not even pay off.

Just try to do a better job of picking backup QBs. Weeden in hindsight was a colossal mistake that a lot of people called with foresight. His price and draft position blinded the FO and many of us. "He can't be that bad" or "Get him out of CLE".

We can't win the SB if he can't stay healthy. I agree about the backups though. The FO failed big time with that. You have an aging QB with a bad back and the best you can do is Brandon Weeden..unbelievable.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

I still think it's just a matter of time before Rg3 comes to Dallas. Probably will happen in 2017.

Oh Good grief. Quincy Carter Part 2. lol

 

[jobberone]

If it weren't for Sean Payton, there would have been no Romo..

During those years the FO was gushing about Drew Henson and Chad Hutchinson and Bledsoe and Carter...

You have a point.

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

With Romo we can win the Super Bowl. Without him it would be a miracle.

We have to plan around Romo being the QB for as long as he wants to play.

We can't waste top picks on an insurance policy that may not even pay off.

Just try to do a better job of picking backup QBs. Weeden in hindsight was a colossal mistake that a lot of people called with foresight. His price and draft position blinded the FO and many of us. "He can't be that bad" or "Get him out of CLE".

He was bad last year 20/20 vision...... meaning they should have replaced him this year...

Romo can play as long as he holds up.... thats the question.

 

[Supercowboy1986]

This rhetoric is an oversimplification of what actually happened. People have long been claiming the Cowboys just neglected to find Aikmans replacement before he was retired, when the reality is actually that even if they did try, the overwhelming odds say they wouldn't have been able to replace him as easily as people seem to think anyways.

Here is where I will show how things played out in the years prior to when Aikman retired and several years following his retirement. I'll start in 1997 which is still far too early to have considered his replacement. For this I will only do the top 3 Rds while mentioning any notable exceptions.

QBs taken between 1997-2004

1997
1st Rd
None

2nd Rd
42- Jake Plummer

3rd Rd
None

Nothing to see here. Plummer was a decent QB, but nothing worth complaining about missing out on.

1998

1st Rd
1 Peyton Manning
2 Ryan Leaf

2nd Rd
60 Charlie Batch

3rd Rd
86 Jonathan Quinn
91 Brian Griese

6th Rd
186 Matt Hasselbeck

The Cowboys had a high pick this year, but Indianapolis wasn't trading the top pick. Griese had some good years, but not what I would call a franchise QB. Hasselbeck was a good QB for a good stretch. Hard to fault the Cowboys since this is still too early to be looking for Aikmans replacement with the circumstances at the time.

1999

1st Rd
1 Tim Couch
2 Donovan McNabb
3 Akili Smith
11 Daunte Culpepper
12 Cade McNown

2nd Rd
50 Shaun King

3rd Rd
77 Brock Huard

The Cowboys were never in a position to take McNabb and theres nobody else of note to really mention. Culpepper had some decent seasons, but IMO he wasn't a franchise QB and he eventually proved it. Regardless, they still wouldn't have been in position to take him

2000 Draft

1st Rd
17 Chad Pennington

2nd Rd
None

3rd Rd
65 Giovanni Carmazzi
75 Chris Redman

6th Rd
168 Marc Bulger
199 Tom Brady

The Cowboys missed out on Brady. So did every other team. He is the exception, not the rule. Hard to knock a team for not being the team to draft a 6th Rd gem.

2001

1st Rd
1 Michael Vick

2nd Rd
32 Drew Brees
53 Quincy Carter
59 Marques Tuiasosopo

3rd Rd
None

This is the only year I can really find fault in the Cowboys. This is the year Aikman retired. It's also a year they didn't have a 1st Rd pick because of the Galloway trade. Not having it resulted in no shot at Brees and then they compounded that problem by taking Quincy.

2002

1st Rd
1 David Carr
32 Patrick Ramsey

2nd Rd
None

3rd Rd
91 Josh McCown

No commentary needed

2003

1st Rd
1 Carson Palmer
7 Byron Leftwich
19 Kyle Boller
22 Rex Grossman

2nd Rd
None

3rd Rd
88 Dave Ragone
97 Chris Simms

Palmer. Thats it. Even in a year they had a top 5 pick, if it wasn't Palmer it's a wasted pick. It's all moot because this is the year Romo came to be a Cowboy.

2004

1st Rd
1 Eli Manning
4 Phillip Rivers
11 Ben Roethlisberger
22 J.P. Losman

2nd Rd
None

3rd Rd
90 Matt Schaub

Heck of a year to have a high pick if you're looking for a QB. Unfortunately(or is it fortunately?) the Cowboys didn't. This is the last year I'm going to do because the coacheshad an idea of who Romo was by this point.

Bottom line is people are chastising the Cowboys for not looking for Aikmans replacement or getting prepared for life after Aikman. Who exactly were they supposed to take? Plummer? Griese? It would have been a complete waste. Brees is the only one that the team can honestly look back on and say "dang, we really screwed the pooch there." Thats it, abd thats after Aikman. Do they trade way up in a draft while Aikman is still playing? Essentially screwing any chance to get better in the last years of the big 3. They simply weren't in a position to trade up for any QB that wouldn't have cost a giant sum of picks. The pre retirement and even post retirement wasn't some crappy handling of the situation. It was you had the 1st pick in 1998 or took a flier on Hasselbeck in the 6th. Seeing this, are you really going to point to the Cowboys not "addressing" the position even though "addressing" basically means throwing picks away?

I get your point and I agree. Anyone who disagrees either can't critical think or just is unillitegent. Nice find

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Und Stephen! Und Eine Kleine Nacht Music!

mein gott! Sephen too though I thought we could leave the children out off this.