Cowboys Future Dictated by First Round Pick

Holding the fourth pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys face a huge decision on the future of their team.

Following the disappointing 2015 campaign, the Dallas Cowboys head into the offseason in a unique position. After a 4-12 season caused almost entirely by injuries to key players, the team is in a position to build for the future while still contending for the postseason, or they can enter a win now mode and try to get quarterback Tony Romo a Super Bowl victory in the small window he has left.

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The team holds the fourth overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, and that pick will play a key role in the future of the franchise. If the team drafts one of the top quarterbacks on the board such as California’s Jared Goff or North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz, they’re shoring up the backup quarterback spot, but also beginning to plan for life after Romo.

If the front office decides not to go that route, they will likely enter win now mode, which would likely include a couple big free agent signings as well, to try to get this team over the hump in the twilight of Romo’s career. This presents an interesting predicament: draft a QB and plan for the future, or draft a playmaker and try to win now. Let’s look at both sides of the coin:

Looking Ahead

The phrase build for the future can scare fans, but drafting a quarterback would not mean this team won’t contend this upcoming season. This is a team that won 12 games just a year ago when healthy, and will be healthy heading into the 2016 season. Franchise quarterbacks don’t grow on trees, and despite finding Romo as an undrafted gem, the best way to get one is to have a top five draft choice. In other words, this fan base would have to go through another miserable year such as this to get the quarterback of the future if he’s not taken here, how many want that?

While none of the quarterbacks coming out in the coming drafts are sure things, they are safer bets than ignoring the future at the position until the time comes, and would also serve as a better backup to Romo than the trio the team used this year. When you have even a minor need at the most important position in the game, you address it when you have a high pick.

Getting Romo His Ring

There is little debate among Cowboys fans that Romo is one of the best quarterbacks this team has ever had under center. And unless anything changes in the coming years, he will go down as one of the best quarterbacks never to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

The top of this draft is littered with potential playmakers on the defensive side of the ball such as UCLA linebacker Myles Jack or Florida State defensive back Jalen Ramsey. Drafting either of them or any other non-quarterback would help lessen the burden on Romo’s surgically repaired back as he carries this team to the postseason.

The defensive playmakers at the top of this draft are safer bets than the quarterbacks, and the team could always take a signal-caller in the later rounds and see how he develops. This team needs to build more around their star quarterback and try to bring home a championship for the first time in 20 years.

Which way are you leaning, Cowboys Nation? Discuss in the comment section below your stance on how the Cowboys should use this pivotal draft pick.

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