Sabin: Why Cowboys are willing to invest resources in quarterbacks, just not draft...

Cotton

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Why Cowboys are willing to invest resources in quarterbacks, just not draft picks

RAINER SABIN
Staff Writer rsabin@dallasnews.com
Published: 12 April 2014 12:25 PM
Updated: 13 April 2014 09:36 AM


In almost every way imaginable, the Cowboys have shown they value having a proficient quarterback. Tony Romo is the highest-paid player on the team, the recipient of a six-year, $108 million contract extension in March 2013.

He captains an offense designed to feature him in a starring role and accentuate his strengths. The term, “Romo-friendly,” was coined five years ago with him in mind. Last season, only three teams passed the ball more frequently than the Cowboys, a club that has been hellbent on attacking teams through the air as of late.

The head coach who developed the pass-happy system Romo runs, Jason Garrett, is a former quarterback. He was hired by Jerry Jones, in part, to help foster Romo’s growth, because the Cowboys owner believes a team will only advance as far as the man behind center takes it.

“I have had heard for years, ‘Get me a franchise quarterback and you go,’ ” Jones said.

With Romo, Jones believes he has one. His 1-3 playoff record notwithstanding, Romo has been a successful player, establishing many franchise passing records and stabilizing a position that was remarkably unsettled before he emerged as the starter in 2006.

But Romo, who will turn 34 on April 21, was signed as a rookie free agent 11 years ago. There was no real plan for him back then, when the Cowboys made a small investment in the Eastern Illinois product and slotted him behind Quincy Carter, Chad Hutchinson and Clint Stoerner.

The origin of Romo’s career with the Cowboys is notable considering that since 2000 Dallas has drafted fewer quarterbacks than any other team in the league.

In the last 14 years, the Cowboys have picked only Quincy Carter and Stephen McGee. Carter, a 2001 second-round choice, bombed as a starter and battled substance-abuse problems. McGee, selected in the fourth round in 2009, never blossomed into a productive player, remaining chained to the bottom of the team’s depth chart throughout a three-season stint in which he threw a total of 82 passes.

After McGee flopped and was released in September 2012, the Cowboys opted to carry only two quarterbacks on their active roster — Romo and the experienced Kyle Orton — until the Week 17 emergency signing of Jon Kitna last December.

Cultivating young players at that position hasn’t been a priority, which is difficult to reconcile with the Cowboys’ efforts to build the team around their quarterbacks.
“We always want to make sure we have a guy we really like as a starter, a guy we feel very confident as a backup and hopefully a guy we’re developing as a third,” Garrett said.

Last year, that No. 3 was Alex Tanney, a 26-year-old former Division III player Dallas acquired off the street last July. Tanney was assigned to the practice squad before he was poached by Cleveland in November.

This season, the Cowboys are hoping to resurrect the career of Brandon Weeden, the Browns’ 2012 first-round bust. Signed in March, Weeden will turn 31 later this year. His presence on the roster, along with the team’s defensive needs, reduces the likelihood of the Cowboys investing a draft pick in a quarterback next month.

Not that the Cowboys would be inclined to do that anyway, based on their track record. During the 25 years Jones has been owner, the Cowboys have drafted five quarterbacks. Only three of those selections — Troy Aikman, Steve Walsh and Carter — were taken in the first or second round.

“An early pick would be more inclined to be one that you would say, ‘Use now,’” Jones said earlier this year. “The other thing we’ve got is when you draft out of that first round, those are four-year contracts and three-year contracts as you go down, so to some degree, you’re just drafting one to develop for somebody else.”

But that hasn’t stopped other teams from using their picks on players at a premium position, Garrett said, that “we believe strongly in.”

New England has drafted seven quarterbacks, including Tom Brady, since 2000. Denver and Baltimore, two of the top organizations in the league’s recent past, have each taken eight during that same period.

“We believe in allocating resources to that position because of [the quarterback’s] value to the football team,” Garrett said.

In terms of money, that’s true. But how the Cowboys have appropriated their draft picks tells an entirely different story — one that is difficult to grasp considering they remain a pass-happy lot.

Drafting QBs

The Cowboys have drafted the fewest quarterbacks of any other team since 2000. Here is a look at the teams who have taken the most and fewest QB since then.

MOST
Team - QBs
Washington - 9
San Fran. - 9
Baltimore - 8
Denver - 8
New England – 7
NY Jets – 7
San Diego - 7

FEWEST
Cowboys - 2
Jacksonville - 3
Kansas City - 3
Tennessee - 3
Buffalo - 4
Cincinnati - 4
Indianapolis - 4
Minnesota - 4
N. Orleans - 4
St. Louis - 4
 

Stars

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Every time I read this quote from Jones it makes me want to jump off of a cliff:

Jones said earlier this year. “The other thing we’ve got is when you draft out of that first round, those are four-year contracts and three-year contracts as you go down, so to some degree, you’re just drafting one to develop for somebody else.”


That's the most retarded logic I've ever heard. The nonsensical ravings of a lunatic mind.
 

Cotton

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Every time I read this quote from Jones it makes me want to jump off of a cliff:

Jones said earlier this year. “The other thing we’ve got is when you draft out of that first round, those are four-year contracts and three-year contracts as you go down, so to some degree, you’re just drafting one to develop for somebody else.”


That's the most retarded logic I've ever heard. The nonsensical ravings of a lunatic mind.
I said almost the exact same thing when I first read that quote. Just more proof that he has no clue what he's doing.
 

Carp

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Recent history says you can win with youth at QB.
 

boozeman

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Recent history says you can win with youth at QB.
No way, man. You need to stick with your veteran coming off of two back surgeries for at least two years and stuff.

A new rookie QB won't even see the field.

There is always always always one area of miscalculation that we do every year.

I think that is this one.

We will all be sitting here in late October laughing as Brandon Weeden is taking snaps.
 

Cowboysrock55

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A new rookie QB won't even see the field.
Yeah, and by the time he develops as a QB he will be a free agent and another team will get the stud franchise QB for free.

At least that is Jerry's thinking.
 

ravidubey

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Recent history says you can win with youth at QB.
I love bashing Jerry as much as anyone, but he's saying you really can't tell anything about a QB with a 3 year deal unless you force him into the lineup.

Seattle was faced with starting a rookie who was playing lights out in camp or Matt Flynn who wasn't close. They had nothing to lose. As a 3rd round pick, he signed a 4 year deal. If the Seahawks hadn't played him right away, then they would have been developing him for someone else.

The rest of the youth at QB you refer to are 1st and 2nd draft picks. Show me a QB taken in the 4th round or later since the new CBA whom we know anything about? I can only think of one: Kirk Cousins, and then only because RG3 can't stay upright.

Look at this list:

MOST
Team - QBs
Washington - 9: All sucked except RG3 who was the 2nd overall pick (and he can't stay healthy) and Cousins who is average.
San Fran. - 9: Same story, except Kaepernick in the 2nd round and Alex Smith was a bust as the 1st overall pick. The remaining 9... um, can't recall a single one.
Baltimore - 8: Flacco was a 1st round pick. ZERO value from the other 7 picks.
Denver - 8: Tim Tebow didn't even finish his rookie deal. Manning at age 100 is the current starter-- where's the payoff for drafting all these QBs again?
New England – 7: Brady in his 14th season is the poster child. Hasn't happened since except for Romo. NE fleeced the Chiefs trading them a backup QB. Great! One success story-- over a decade ago
NY Jets – 7: Sanchise was a bust. Geno Smith is a 2nd rounder. The other 5?
San Diego - 7: Rivers (top 10 pick) heading into his 11th season. The rest? They let former 2nd round pick Drew Brees and future HOFer go for free to the Saints. What retards.
 

Carp

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Most of those teams mentioned had one success story though...you have to throw picks at the most important position on the field. Shit...even Sanchez got to the AFCC and Tebow has as many playoff wins as Romo.
 

L.T. Fan

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Most of those teams mentioned had one success story though...you have to throw picks at the most important position on the field. Shit...even Sanchez got to the AFCC and Tebow has as many playoff wins as Romo.
But those two didn't get to the playoffs because they are good QBs. They got there on someone else's dime with the Jets it was their defense and the Broncos got there without Tebow' s help. Any progress Dallas made was off the back of Romo.
 

Carp

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In the past 2 years we have drafted 2 TEs...in the past 14 years we have drafted 2 QBs.
 

Carp

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But those two didn't get to the playoffs because they are good QBs. They got there on someone else's dime with the Jets it was their defense and the Broncos got there without Tebow' s help. Any progress Dallas made was off the back of Romo.
I see...Sanchez and Tebow won in spite of themselves...Romo had good defenses when we went to the playoffs too.
 

L.T. Fan

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I see...Sanchez and Tebow won in spite of themselves...Romo had good defenses when we went to the playoffs too.
Sanchez and Tebow are not in the same universe with Romo as QBs go.
 

Carp

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Sanchez and Tebow are not in the same universe with Romo as QBs go.
Tebow has as many playoff wins...and Sanchez has more.

Anyways...it was an example, don't try and change the subject. IMO we should have spent more resources on QBs than we have of late. I don’t know if you do or don't because you are hung up on everything but the topic at hand.
 

Clay_Allison

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Seems like the only time those teams had success was when they drafted a QB when they needed one. Based on their success drafting guys that they never intended to play, Jerry's only wrong in thinking we don't have a need at the position.
 

Carp

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It is nice to develop your own back up though and not consistently roll with guys like Kitna and Orton.
 

L.T. Fan

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Seems like the only time those teams had success was when they drafted a QB when they needed one. Based on their success drafting guys that they never intended to play, Jerry's only wrong in thinking we don't have a need at the position.
If you pursue QB this draft you will have four on the roster. I don't see the urgency this year.
 

data

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Someone should tell jerruh that nothing peaks interest and entertainment like a good ole QB controversy.
 
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