If you haven’t signed-in on the roll call in the previous post, go ahead and do it. It’s a good opportunity for everyone here to get to know each other and to make the BTB community a little livelier. So take a moment if you’re a regular or semi-regular to sign-in, and if you’re a lurker, this is the opportunity to jump into the fray. And I can guarantee your safety unless you say something bad about Tony Romo, and then all bets are off.

Also, there was a mention about a BTB fantasy football league. I would play in one, but I don’t have the inclination to be the commissioner. So if one of you guys wants to set a league up for BTB readers, I’m in as a participant. I’ll even cover the league on the front-page during the season.

Speaking of the man, the myth, The Romo; Pat Kirwan has his own take on Romo getting a new contract.

Tony Romo is the next quarterback who could be difficult to compare to other veterans. His election into the Pro Bowl last season complicates the whole issue. Had Donovan McNabb never gotten hurt and missed a significant part of the season, Romo likely would not have been voted into the Hawaii game but he was, and that changed everything.

Kirwan goes on to detail that even though Romo had a very good start to his burgeoning career, but it’s simply not enough game experience to justify a blockbuster contract. Because of that, the Cowboys probably wouldn’t offer the kind of contract that Romo would accept before the season. His conclusion:

The only way [Romo] does a deal now is if it includes big escalators or voids so they don't have to predict the future now. This preseason deal is even harder to do than the [Marc] Bulger deal. I predict both sides will wind up waiting until midseason at the earliest.

That’s been my guess too.

Some of you suggested that I do a series on the assistant coaches since so many of them are new to the Cowboys, or at least different from the Parcells regime. I was seriously thinking about doing it, and even started researching the guys. But then I saw that DC.com was doing a series on the assistants, and they have actual quotes from the coaches, so I’ll defer to them. They start with QB coach Wade Wilson.

Wade Wilson and Jason Garrett combined to back up a Cowboys quarterback once, and it worked out pretty well, seeing as Troy Aikman led the Cowboys to a Super Bowl XXX win in Wilson's first year as a player in Dallas.

And now they're backing up a new Cowboys starting quarterback, Tony Romo, in a different way: Having his back. That means keeping Romo's confidence up if he throws three interceptions in a game, fumbles a ball in crunch time or miss-reads a defense. Virtually everything Romo-related, save grief-counseling in the event Romo becomes the ex-Mr. American Idol.

Nice opening to the article.

The DMN blog was killing time in this, the depths of the dead season, by speculating on trading for RB Larry Johnson. BTB-regular Burt-D posted it in a diary, here. It’s led to some good discussion. Even though I like Larry Johnson a lot as a RB, he’s got power and moves, I think I’d rather take my chances with the JJ/MB3 duo this year, then set my sights on DMac in the draft next year.

Also making an appearance in the diaries is MysterD’s post about SI.com ranking the top 25 receivers in the game. Terrell comes in at #5:

5. Terrell Owens, Dallas Cowboys: The controversial superstar led the league in touchdown receptions in 2006, but suffered a down year by his standards. Though his season totals should have earned him Pro Bowl accolades, his high number of drops diverted attention away from his positive impact on the Dallas offense. Fully recovered from a wrist injury and playing in an offense that will accentuate his strengths, he will have a big season as Tony Romo's favorite target in 2007.

And no Terry Glenn in the top 25. Hey, that’s OK, keep missing out on the Cowboys other receiver and let him continue to produce big for the Boys. Our silent, secret weapon.