We need a HC that will command his respect and keep him in line. no more media baloney, and focus on the opponent. Garrett cannot now be considered as a HC candidate for the Cowboys, and they should have let him go to baltimore last year. Wade Phillips also is not going to command T.O.s respect, so the inevitable outcome is that you get a new HC that is not Wade or Garrett, or you get rid of TO. If you get rid of TO, it is not the end of the world though, but you have to do it early, and you have to replace TO with someone like…..T.J. Houshmenzadeh! Shannahan does command and earn the respect of T.O., and losing Ray Sherman would mean that T.O. would be better off elsewhere, so this is a little bit of a complicated crossword puzzle.

I would say the best is for T.O. to stay and replace Wade and Garrett with Wade as DC and Shannahan as HC and Sherman as OC, or get Dom Capers to become DC if Wade doesn’t stay on as DC. But the key to all of this is for Jerry to do this early, so that the team has a chance to jell and be ready for the beginning of the season.

I don’t want to see T.O. go. I just want to see him take a background stance next year—just be part of the team and let somebody else step up to be the leader. I understand that certain players are contracted by the NFL to speak to the media, but there are plenty guys on this team that will spend time doing that.
A quiet leader who helps develop the younger guys is what this team needs.

69 rec 1052 yards 15.2 ypc 10 tds

If you look at the stat line alone your agrument is pretty solid, but how many WR’s see as many balls thrown to them as TO. Can you give me that stat? Can you find Targets? I want to see that.

Its about him possibly dividing the locker room and causing distractions. Quite frankly, I never liked T.O. at all but had to accept him as a Cowboy. He played well last season, but this season he’s ran sloppy routes and quit on some patterns which lead to a few of Romo’s INTs.

He’s definitely a talent and puts fear into opposing defenses, but like Pacrat, the question you have to ask yourself, is he really worth all the baggage that comes with him?

IMO, no.

We have 3 good running backs, a big offensive line, and a talented but mistake prone QB… imo we really should be trying to forge our identity as a run team. I don’t think that can happen so long as we are forcing so many balls to TO. The guy puts up great numbers, and there is no doubt that our passing game will have be scaled back if he is gone, but I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing.

keep bringing up his numbers but I would sure love a season where he is not in the news every freaking week, dragging the cowboys into the limelight in a negative manner. Obviously he is a talent but he and Romo seem to have zero chemistry and, in fact, some of Romo’s worst games are when he tries to force TO into the game plan.

Every game this year where TO didn’t start off hot, the cameras began to focus on him and the announcers would say “uh oh, TO doesn’t have a catch yet.”

You tell me how this mess of players will ever become a team with that kind of bullsh*t to deal with day in and day out. This year’s team imploded so spectacularly that no move that could improve chemistry should be questioned and I have seen enough of TO to hope we get rid of him.

I love T.O. I love watching him give some defender a hip shimmy and blowing by him with his ridiculously long legs. I love the separation he gets when teams choose to try single coverage and the way he forces safety help over the top in more cases than not.

But here is the thing; Owens is making Romo a lesser player than he would be without him.

Romo tries to force balls to Owens and with T.O.‘s inconsistent route running, I think Romo ends up looking worse than he is. We need a QB who can scan the field, go through his progressions and not feel threatened by the presence like that of Owens and what might happen if he DOESN’T get the number of balls thrown at him that he expects. Dallas’ offense has to be more precise in 2009, and with T.O. just doing what T.O. does, this offense will stagnate.

I’ve arrived at a point where I think Romo won’t be the QB that BTB’ers want him to be unless T.O. leaves and Romo is forced to play more within the SCHEME of an offense. Poor execution combined with Romo’s penchant for wanting to do too much is a recipe for continued disaster.

Having said that, Romo has to do his part and stop pressing and fumbling. He also needs better blitz protections than he got this year.

some get it…some don’t…

That TO is a practically a prototype receiver for the type of offense he runs.

TO cause maybe one media story……. the rest the media all made up assuming on his past reputation. I believe TO has the best of intentions here in dallas and i really dont think he would be complaining if he didnt get any catches as long as we were blowing teams away. He went to garrett this year because hes been on some very very good Offenses and knows when a team is being predictable and vanilla.

TO wants to win.

If we are losing of course hes going to want balls his way because he BELIEVES that he can turn any play into a TD!

Last year there was atleast a 3game stretch where TO did little in the way of stats for this team.. did we hear anything from him.. NO! WHY? because other player had great games and we kicked butt! This year not so much but yet did we hear anything no!

To summarize TO has been around awhile and just wants to win. He has the best of intentions in dallas and just wants to win. He plays 120% on the field and doesnt get into any legal trouble. He hasnt been a goof in the media since the OD thing. This year with everything that happen there was no “TO Blow up” why because hes changed. He went to garrett to get this offense out of its slump and be less predictable.

It doesn’t matter what he does… It doesn’t matter what he says or doesn’t say… As long as he gets his stats we keep him?

No wonder he complains so much about getting passes.

TO wants to win… He just likes being in the media more than winning.

It is a simple formula-

Distraction = bad for a football team
He complains to the media = distraction

It doesn’t matter it the guy is right or wrong he knows the media is going to make a big deal out of what he says… If there is a single person on the planet who should keep their mouth shut it is TO. Is it so hard to do? How many cowboys DON"T complain to the media? I would say the vast majority.

Not because it gets him attention..

That to me is the difference. TO seems to do it on purpose…

It makes sense really… The higher profile he is the more opportunities he is going to have post football.

If you have a complaint about Romo, his ‘aw shucks’ attitude may be a detriment although it is hard to guess what is going on in the locker room and huddle.

Football seems to be like war. There is a certain type of person you would want to go to war with. (Kinda like Choice’s speach… I would go to war with that guy.)

Run the ball all day play D

He can make plays and opens up the field for other players, but the constant soap opera is getting old. I thought he had changed last season, but he’s regressed this season and is back to his old self off the field. Not to mention he’s getting older, still drops passes way too much, and runs the wrong routes too often (or else Romo and him aren’t on the same page).

I don’t think Jerry will cut him, but he did go out and get RW2. Dallas might also find another WR in the draft. I guess the odds that he does get cut are much higher than last year. If he would only shut the heck up and not be a lightning rod for drama, I’d say it’s a no-brainer to keep him, but I don’t think he can escape his past or change his persona.

1. He can break games wide open.
2. When he does, he celebrates himself.
3. When he doesn’t, he’s more apt to use the word “WE”.

But we dont. We have three good backs, but we have an offensive line that does not consistently create holes. If I thought we could lean on our running game. Then, maybe, maybe, I would think cutting T.O. made a little sense. But our line or run blocking scheme forces us to be a passing team. Our line just doesn’t maul people like they should at their size.

When is our d going to play more consistent?

I recall a time in the early 1990’s when Brett Favre to Sterling Sharpe dominated the passing offense in Green Bay. Everyone else in the passing game was an afterthought. Favre was roundly criticized for focusing way too much on Sterling Sharpe. (Sound vaguely familiar?) Then Sterling Sharpe had to suddenly retire due to a neck or spinal cord problem. Everyone thought the Packers passing game was finished. Lo and behold, it flourished like never before as heretofore mostly unknown guys like Robert Brooks, Mark Chmura and Antonio Freeman made the most of their opportunity. Favre was forced to spread the ball around because he lost his security blanket…. and he became a better quarterback because of it. Maybe Romo will improve without TO? Maybe Witten and Bennett can be our version of Mark Chmura and Keith Jackson? Maybe Miles Austin can be our Robert Brooks? Maybe Felix Jones in the slot will be a Reggie-Bush-like weapon? My point is that there is plenty of talent on this team and we shouldn’t be looking at one guy to simply replace TO’s stats.

Nobody can be sure if cutting TO this off-season is the right move. However, I think we do know a few things:

· What we have in place right now definitely is not working, so some major change needs to be made to the offense.

· There must be a major change in the chemistry on this team this off-season and cutting TO would unquestionably do just that. Would it change it for the better? That’s debatable, but you don’t lose a strong personality like TO without upsetting the proverbial apple cart.

· TO is definitely on the downside of his career. While the drop-off may have not been very big last season, it will accelerate soon, likely very soon. It’s better to cut a guy a year too early, especially when he is a notorious head case.

· One of the true strengths of this team is the running game. The focus of the offense should move somewhat in that direction. That should also put Romo in a better position to not take as many risks.

I guess I’m leaning in the direction of cutting TO. He is a HOF wide receiver so I don’t take that position lightly, but his days of playing at a Pro Bowl level are over. Let youth be served. Give Romo the opportunity to become the leader of this team. I truly believe that the Cowboys best chance of making the Super Bowl lies with the improvement and maturity of Tony Romo. TO’s presence is hindering that, and his performance no longer justifies it.