The Draft Pick Heard Around the World

The ten minutes that the Dallas Cowboys were on the clock for the 16^th pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft seemed like the longest ten minutes in history for Dallas residents and Cowboys fans around the globe.

There was plenty of talk prior to the draft about the Cowboys pick up lightning rod quarterback Johnny Manziel, but few really thought he would be available at 16. However, Manziel was there. Jerry Jones had the phone. Drafting Manziel makes the Cowboys the talk of the NFL. Jersey sales are going to boom. Not an empty seat will be found in AT&T Stadium. All Jerry Jones has to do is turn in the draft card with “Johnny Manziel” written on it.

He didn’t do it. Don’t get me wrong; the owner in Jerry Jones wanted to do it as badly as anybody on this earth. But the GM in Jerry Jones spoke louder.

Zack Martin, 6’4 308 pound offensive tackle from Notre Dame. That was Jerry's pick.

Martin is far from the sexy pick Dallas fans wanted. Oh yeah, Dallas fans. Lets talk about that for a second.

For the past 2-3 years, the Cowboys have been playing 16 games.  No playoffs. Yes, the fans blame the defense. Yes, the fans blame Tony Romo. Yes, Jason Garrett and Monte Kiffin get criticized. But really, every fan points to Jerry Jones. Everybody says that Jerry doesn’t want to win; he just wants to fill the seats in his billion-dollar playpen. It frustrates the hell out of Cowboys fans everywhere. Shoot, the same fans that are Romopologists and defend Romo with his great stats wanted Manziel.  Yet how hypocritical, when a guy like Manziel is available, the fans want the sexy pick. The pick that will ride the bench and not help the team for another 4 years.

Jerry Jones made the smart pick because picking Manziel had the potential of blowing up in his face next season in very ugly fashion. Jerry just committed to his guy Romo with a contract only a franchise quarterback gets. Having a younger guy with potential spells doom for the veteran. Especially when we are talking about the lighting rod, Johnny Manziel, and the always-criticized Tony Romo. 

History proves it. Look at the San Francisco 49ers in the early 1990s. They had Joe Montana and Steve Young. Joe Montana eventually had to leave. The San Diego Chargers earlier this century had the oft-injured Drew Brees and Philip Rivers. Brees was shown the door. The New England Patriots earlier this century had Drew Bledsoe and a young Tom Brady. Drew Bledsoe was allowed to walk to a division rival. The Green Bay Packers had Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers just less than a decade ago. Eventually, Brett was not welcome back from his annual retirement. If Jerry REALLY wanted Manziel, he should not have committed the huge contract to Romo, and should not have had Romo on the roster. In a different situation two years ago, the Indianapolis Colts made sure future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning was out of the door before drafting the young Andrew Luck. That would not be possible for the Cowboys because they just committed a mega-million dollar contract to Romo, in which he counts over 27 million against the cap next year and has 55 million guaranteed. 

So, Jerry made the pick in Martin to keep his 108-million dollar quarterback, who is coming off of back surgery, upright. He made the pick to help the quarterback who Jason Garrett said was “in his prime” just this past week. Jerry Jones made a smart football decision for a change, yet everybody still wanted to bash him. He could have picked Manziel and made a lot of fans happy and filled his seats, but the people who know football would question why he picked a backup quarterback in the first round of such a deep draft when the team has needs across the board.

Now, some fans are a bit irritated with the fact that Jerry Jones went offense and did nothing to a defense that was historically putrid last season. That is a little bit more of a valid argument, but as Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPN Dallas said after the draft last night, “Did the draft end after Round 1?”

The Cowboys have TEN draft picks remaining. Granted, more than half of those are 7^th round picks, but this draft is extraordinarily deep. They could catch a starter or two with those picks. They also have a pick each in round 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Zack Martin will forever be remembered as the unsexy pick that was made instead of local favorite Johnny Manziel. But in the end, he is the pick Jerry Jones made to help his quarterback, Tony Romo.

Not Johnny Manziel.