Jerry Jones: If Romo were playing, he 'would be real competition for us this year'

Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager/head honcho Jerry Jones held his customary pre-draft news conference on Monday, and much of the talk focused not on the future, but on the recent past … specifically, one rather well-known guy who’s no longer with the team.

It’s impossible to look at Dallas right now and not think about where this team was this time a year ago. Tony Romo was the presumptive quarterback, expecting to play another four or five years. Dak Prescott was still technically a Mississippi State Bulldog, not yet drafted in the fourth round by the Cowboys, certainly not expecting that he’d be the franchise’s savior.

But now Prescott’s running the show for the foreseeable future, Romo’s behind a microphone, and according to Jones, everything played out juuuuust fine.

“Worked out about as well as I think we could draw it up,” Jones said, and short of being able to trade Romo for a first-round pick, he’s probably right. Romo isn’t still hanging around camp, making everything awkward as Prescott carves his name in stone. Equally as important, Romo isn’t prepping to join another team — say, one also in Texas — where he could take either wins or oxygen from Jones’ beloved ‘boys.

“I think that if he were [on another team], they would be real competition for us this year,” Jones said. Romo’s salary cap hit will be spread over two seasons, freeing up $14 million in cap space starting on June 2.

To Jones, the good fortune the Cowboys have enjoyed has been more by luck than design. “It just really shows me that positive things are more likely to happen to you than because of you,” he said. “We’ve had some really good things happen to our team. And I candidly would have to say that’s been a story in my life and career. But certainly to be sitting here right now with the future as we have it, I could’ve never dreamed this hand would’ve been dealt this way. But certainly we have every reason to frankly be more positive today than we were a year ago.”

Prescott’s backup is slated to be Kellen Moore, who was supposed to be ahead of Prescott on the depth chart last season. Beyond that, the Cowboys will need a third-stringer, which Dallas could pick up either in the draft or via free agency.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

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