grooming the undrafted quarterback, and then working through those 39 starts of NFL maturation, there would be some of you - and members of the media - who firmly believe the Cowboys should can all that for the new girl on the (trading) block. Just like that, after all that work and all that pain, ship right out of here the two-time Pro Bowl quarterback who set the team's single-season passing record (both yards and touchdowns) in his first full season starting.
And just because he went 8-5 last year in his 13 starts, with one loss totally on the special teams (Arizona) and one loss on the defense in the end (Baltimore)? Someone either said or wrote the other day Romo is about to become the next Danny White. Really? You mean a quarterback capable of taking his club to three consecutive NFC title games?
For a team that hasn't won so much as one playoff game since Dec. 28, 1996, sing hallelujah if that should occur.
How crazy is that?
So if you must, dispute what Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips has to say about Romo, pointing out last week at the NFL Meetings, "Well, I think Tony is going to be better as he goes along certainly. He's certainly accomplished a lot of things as far as a quarterback is concerned. He's looking forward to and we're looking forward to this season.
"I think this is going to be even more of a breakout year for him just because of experience, not because Terrell (Owens) is or isn't there. I think it's just experience and playing the game. Tony is still 21-8 as the starter the last two years. I think this is a big year for him."
Or dispute Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for last week saying, "I wouldn't trade Tony Romo for anybody," and for those of you with half a brain, certainly understand what Jones was saying, not to mention trading him today would cost the Cowboys like $20 million against the salary cap, which would then mean a third of the team's cap space would be devoted to dead money this year.
But don't you dare include the Cowboys, or think they're nuts for not including themselves, in what turned into the Cutler sweepstakes, since Denver owner Pat Bowlen threw up his arms the other day, saying, OK, you little twit, you want out, we're going to trade you then. The Cowboys had been in that sinking boat groveling for a quarterback long enough.
Plus, you want a quarterback whose feelings are hurt because his name happened to come up in trade talks? You want a quarterback who can't play through a coaching change? You want a quarterback who plays he said, she said in the media, not man enough to call his owner and clear the air? Who hides behind his agent? I mean you want a quarterback who demands to be traded and then when the Broncos finally acquiesced to his petulant demands, cries, "I'm surprised they decided to trade me so soon."
That's who you want leading you into Giants Stadium on a cold December night?
Poor baby.
Be careful what you wish for.
Now I see where my former colleague Mark Kinzla, long-time Broncos observer at the Denver Post, just wrote of this messy, mile-high situation, "For all his obvious physical gifts, self-reliance and refusal to surrender, Cutler is cursed by a thin skin and a thick head.
"Despite studying at the Southeastern Conference's brainiac university and passing the Wonderlic test with flying colors, Cutler was not smart enough to act like a championship quarterback."
And that's from someone who watches Cutler Sunday in and Sunday out, and now obviously willing to throw the Broncos into that 40 percent in the NFL always wondering about their quarterback or searching for someone better, that swelling group weighing is it better to have Jason Campbell or Jay Cutler; the No. 1 pick in the draft or Jay Cutler; Tarvaris Jackson or Jay Cutler; Brian Griese or Jay Cutler; Kerry Collins and Vince Young or Jay Cutler; Kellen Clemens and Brett Ratliff and Erik Ainge or Jay Cutler - or as it turns out Kyle Orton and your first-round picks over the next two drafts or Jay Cutler.
The Bears were willing to roll those expensive dice.
But
