Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys plan to handle their Tony Romo problem with 'kid gloves'

Published Jan. 21, 2017 11:52 a.m. ET

Andrew Lynch

Jerry Jones is on the record with his belief that Tony Romo will return to the Dallas Cowboys in 2017, even as a backup to Dak Prescott.

The obvious question, then, is how you convince such a fierce competitor — and one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL — to embrace sitting on the bench for 16 weeks a year. (Hint: The answer, if there is one, is "a ton of money and the argument that it's the best chance to win a Super Bowl.")

Earlier this week, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones joined The Ben and Skin Show on Dallas' KRLD-FM 105.3 The Fan, where he was asked about Romo's future in Dallas. While acknowledging the final decision belongs to his father, team owner Jerry Jones, Stephen did offer some insight into the Cowboys' thinking:

Via Dallas Morning News:

Well, I don't know if ya'll are aware of what's going on. I listen well, and I saw where there's one guy who's gonna make that decision. And I certainly respect that. You got the wrong guy on the phone right now. As ya'll all know, there are a lot of moving parts when it comes to that. It all starts with the tremendous amount of respect that we have for Tony, not only as a player, but as a person. All of the great accomplishments that he's had as a Dallas Cowboy.

You start with that and you know you've got your hands full in terms of where this ultimately ends up. It's something that, obviously, we're not in any way ready to talk about it. I'm sure as we move forward, obviously, there's two really important people in this mix. First and foremost will be Jerry and then, of course, Tony. I read where Jason said his wish is that Tony, whatever happens here, is happy. I'm sure most people feel that way. At the same time, we all know we're in a business.

It's something here that will be, obviously, handled with, if you will, kid gloves. And something that we'll work through and when we're ready to have any comments about it, I know Jerry and Tony will be the ones to do that.

On the other hand, should the Cowboys decide to trade Romo, there are a number of teams that will try to acquire the veteran QB. NFL Hall of Famer and FOX Sports insider Cris Carter has a perfect suggestion on that front: Romo to the Houston Texans, with Dallas getting J.J. Watt in the deal.

And if you're still wondering how Dallas came up short in the playoffs, Carter also explained just what went wrong for the Cowboys in their Divisional Round loss to the Green Bay Packers on this week's Make Me Smarter NFL podcast here on FOX Sports.