The great Dallas Cowboys Debate: Tony Romo versus Dak Prescott. Everyone has an opinion on whether rookie Dak Prescott should continue to start or if veteran quarterback Tony Romo should start. Dallas has a problem that many other teams only wish they had.
There is really no debate. In the end, Dallas will do what Dallas wants. Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett have never been really intelligent when it comes to the health of their players. They have in the past, last year, for example, rushed Romo back to the physicality of the game and then he was furthered injured. Don’t be shocked when this pattern continues. Romo may think he’s healthy but his 36-year old body knows it needs more time. Time is something that he doesn’t have a lot left of in the NFL.
While Prescott is rolling this season with having no interceptions with currently 155 passing attempts and targeting Brady’s record of 162 pass attempts without an interception, he is a rookie. Rookies will make mistakes and Cowboys’ fans are the first to hit the panic button as soon as something happens. There is still a lack of experience that will come with the rookie season. The other thing is, there is not a lot of game film on Prescott. Since he is a rookie, teams are relying on college and his brief NFL career to watch how he performs in certain situations. This is not to take anything away from what Dak has done for the Cowboys.
Romo, on the other hand, has had a successful career with Dallas in the regular season. His 2-4 record in the post season and no Super Bowl rings is what haunts an otherwise great career. He is also statistically one of the better-starting quarterbacks in the league. The statistics only hold true, though, if you are comparing him to another quarterbacks stats. As we are well aware, football is a team sport. The teams that Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones and Jason Garrett built were not friendly to Romo’s otherwise stellar play as a quarterback.
Romo’s injuries in the past have been significant leading up to this point the Cowboys now find themselves in. For years, fans have been screaming at the organization to find a successor to Romo before it is too late. Prescott just might be the diamond in the rough that fans and the organization have been waiting for to succeed Romo and just in the nick of time.
While we are on Romo’s numerous injuries, it is a fact that Romo has not played a full healthy season since 2012. This is mindblowing to think that Dallas has scraped by year after year wondering if this is the year Romo finally decides his body has had enough and hang up the cleats for good.
While it’s good in theory to talk about trading Romo to a desperate team like Cleveland, the truth of the matter is it isn’t going to happen. First off, Dallas cannot afford to cut or let him go because he’s due roughly 20-million dollars the next two seasons. Dallas cutting Romo would be going back to salary cap hell.
Trading Romo is also not an option. No general manager in their right mind is going to trade for a 20-million dollar salary and a broken quarterback, it just isn’t a feasible option.
The thing Dallas has going for them is Prescott is a very humble player. It’s shocking for a rookie with his talent to say I know this is Romo’s team. All he wants to do is win and that in itself is what we all want.
So you’ll hear numerous opinions with numerous stats to back up the debate. It really depends on if you are a Romo person or if you are a Dak person. Arguments can be made on both sides, but it boils down to this: which quarterback can stay healthy for the rest of the season and which quarterback gives this team a chance to win games. Jerry Jones has to remember this is the NFL. It’s a cutthroat business. Sometimes you just have to let your favorite child leave the nest and nurture your newest one.