Jerry Jones happy that Tony Romo isn’t in another uniform

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has never wavered in his belief that Tony Romo is a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback. That is why he’s pleased that Romo is heading to the broadcast booth with CBS Sports rather than chasing a championship with another team.

“Yes, because I think that if he were, they would be real competition for us this year,” Jones said at a pre-draft news conference on Monday.

Romo, who turned 37 last week, walked away from football earlier this month. He left the Cowboys as the franchise leader in passing yards (34,154), passing touchdowns (247), passer rating (97.1), completion percentage (65.3) and most 3,000-yard passing seasons (seven).

Jones reflected back on what he felt just a year ago when he said Romo had five years left to play.

“It just really shows me that positive things are more likely to happen to you than because of you,” Jones said. “And so we’ve had some really good things happen to our team. I, candidly, would have to say that’s been the story in a large part of the positives of my life and career. But certainly to be sitting here right now with the future as we have it, I could have never dreamed that this hand would have been dealt this way.

“We certainly have every reason to frankly be more positive today than we were a year ago. But I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I was given that thought during the season as well.”

Romo’s health had become a concern in recent years. He hadn’t played a full 16-game season since 2012, and he broke bones in three of the last five games he played. Rookie Dak Prescott seized the job last season and relegated Romo to backup status.

Romo’s former teammate, DeMarcus Ware, understood why Romo called it a career even though part of Romo’s legacy is only two playoff wins. Ware retired himself this offseason, and signed a one-day contract to retire as a Cowboy on Monday.

“I have been through so many back injuries,” Ware said. “It’s hard sometimes when you know you can be productive in your mind, but your body is going to hold up for the whole season.

“He is one of those guys when you sit on the sideline and you can’t do what you know you can do. That is what hurts the most, ‘cause you know how much you can help the team.”

This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 4:20 PM with the headline "Jerry Jones happy that Tony Romo isn’t in another uniform."