Open Rants by Adam C

Cowboys owner, president and GM Jerry Jones will be having his Hall of Fame induction ceremony in just a few months and throughout the world many Cowboys fans are expelling a collective sigh not of pleasure or relief but of dismay. They know this will only serve to fuel the ego of a megalomaniacal owner who has time and time again shot himself in the foot out of hubris.

Now technically "Jerrah" as local media sarcastically call him is being inducted into the HOF as an owner and not a GM which is like giving "Marky" Mark Walberg an Oscar for Producer of Transformers: Rise of the Fiat, a film he starred in, wrote and directed. Yes Jerrah did help revolutionize the way the NFL sold it's brand into the image over quality model it follows today but not before creating tons of enemies by refusing to share merchandise revenue with the rest of the league. When Jerry did make good decisions he'd inevitably ruin them. He turned a fading franchise around in his first few years owning the team by hiring Jimmy Johnson and letting Johnson make the football decisions. But Texas Stadium was only big enough for one massive ego so Jimmy Johnson was ousted after back to back Super Bowl wins. Let me say it again; JERRY FIRED HIS COACH AFTER WINNING BACK TO BACK SUPER BOWLS!!! Even the walking dead corpse of Al Davis would stop himself from eating a coach who won back to back Super Bowls. Matt Millen gives stupid GMs Jerry Jones grades. That's how crazy and dumb that was, and don't go pointing out how Barry Switzer won Jerry a Super Bowl too because we all know he did it with the same core system and roster that Jimmy Johnson put in place. From then on Jerry would go through coach after coach after coach. Even the great Bill Parcels gave up coaching after dealing with Jerry. Jerrah wouldn't stop with just meddling with his coach's authority, he'd also meddle in the draft and almost always bungle it. It's only recently as old age his limited Jerry that his son Stephen has taken on more control. Couple the less impetuous approach Stephen Jones brings with the hiring of Jason Garrett (who is practically a son in Jerry's eyes) and suddenly you have a coach Jerry is finally willing to let do his job while his son Stephen presents the voice of reason in the office. Now things are finally looking bright for the Cowboys again. But the most regrettable effect Jerry's dictatorship had was to waste such an elite talent as Tony Romo. Now before you Stephen A. Smith wannabes scoff you should maybe look at some stats. Don't give me any those ESPN buzz word terms like "clutch gene" (Romo's one of the best 4th qtr QBs in the NFL) or "playoff choker" (his passer rating was above average in 4 out of 6 playoff games) or "injury prone" ( former NFL doctor David J. Chao recently stated "Medically, Tony Romo is not brittle or injury prone"). Romo's career passer rating puts him among elite QBs and it's not as if you can't win a Super Bowl without an elite passer. So why hasn't Romo done better? The same reason Bill Parcels couldn't get the Cowboys over the hump. At some point you have to start looking at the one guy who has always been there calling the shots. Teams win Super Bowls and Jerry Jones since firing Jimmy Johnson and losing the team Jimmy built,  hasn't even sniffed a Super Bowl.

Finally there comes the big 2017 offseason question of what will become of Tony Romo. I'd argue that a good GM could get a draft pick or a decent player in trading Romo but with Jerry Jones it's almost a foregone conclusion that not only will Dallas fail to trade Romo but they'll stupidly cut him before June 1 which will force them to take on a bigger cap hit than a post June cut. Why? Because Jerry Jones is sentimental. I could argue that the Bills or Bears could probably be talked into giving up a draft pick (possibly conditional) for Romo and that the arguments against him being traded are exaggerated. If Romo were trade that team would only be responsible for Romo's base salary each year of the remainder of his contract (Dallas absorbs all of Romo's dead cap hit) meaning the team acquiring Romo in trade could cut him in the preseason on any year of his remaining contract and not have to absorb a dead cap hit. It's basically like a year to year contract. In 2017 Romo would be owed just 14 million, 2018 - 19.5 million and 2019 20.5. That's actually a sweet deal for someone of Romo's caliber when you won't be on the hook for any dead money if you part with him. Why would the Bills or Bears want to trade for Romo. Both teams have QBs right now who they don't want and are eating up cap money. Romo is actually a better bargain and a better QB but if they wait for the Cowboys to cut Romo their chance of getting him is very low and whatever contract they give him will probably have guaranteed (dead cap) money involved. Both the Bears and Bills have just enough talent on the offense going for them that Romo would probably be willing to play for them and his kids are young enough that 3yrs on the road before retiring isn't going to be a deal breaker. It's reasonable to think if Philly could get a first rounder+ for an "injury prone" lesser talent in Sam Bradford the Cowboy's should at least be able to get something in trade for Romo. That trade won't likely happen though of course, not because it can't but because Jerry Jones is a Hall of Fame owner in the same WTF way Donald Trump is President.