The Dallas Cowboys experienced success in 2016 in a way they hadn't in nearly 20 years. Rookie quarterback Dak Prescott led the team to a 13-3 record, before an untimely exit at the hands of the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional round. Prescott's ascension left longtime Cowboys QB Tony Romo looking wistfully on the sideline for the season, causing incessant speculation on his future with the team.
Skip Bayless has taken a peek into that future, and shared his prediction of what lies ahead on Wednesday's Undisputed.
"When Dak Prescott, my guy, was in the process of winning 11 straight games, Jerry [Jones] still wanted to go back to Tony Romo," Bayless said. "And this is why my instincts are screaming at me that next year in Game 1 Jerry Jones will order Tony Romo back into the starting lineup for my Dallas Cowboys."
This would be an utterly preposterous move for 31 other NFL teams. But in Dallas? It could happen.
And if it does?
"This will be one of the great injustices in sports history," Bayless said.
Once it became clear that Prescott was a capable NFL quarterback, one of the main conversation topics became if Romo, who was exceptional in his last full season, 2014, would get his job back from the fourth-round rookie out of Mississippi State who was winning games but wasn't necessarily carrying the team. When the season ended with the Cowboys hitting record highs, Prescott earned his playoff start. But then the rookie faltered early against the Packers, and Dallas found themselves in a 21-3 hole.
"[Dallas] went into the Green Bay playoff game - again, they're the No. 1 seed because, mostly, of Dak Prescott," Bayless said. "No. 1 seed at home playing against Aaron Rodgers, and he's still saying 'we had the better quarterback situation.' What he's [really] saying, if I can interpret between the lines, 'we had Romo. We had Dak on a short leash with a quick hook that day,' and he's saying 'we should have hooked him at 21-3 down early in that game. Because [Jerry] believes that Tony Romo can make more plays than Aaron Rodgers."
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett stuck with Prescott, and the rookie nearly mounted a remarkable comeback. But in the end, he didn't, and now Jones sees an opportunity to right what he perceives as his second greatest wrong.
"In the end, [Jones] says 'I have two regrets in my career as the owner of the Dallas Cowboys,'" Bayless said. "One is we didn't cash in on enough Super Bowls through the '90s.'"
"His second big regret his he still hasn't gotten Tony Romo to a Super Bowl. Or vice versa. Tony still hasn't put Jerry on the pedestal by showing the world that Jerry was right."
Now the question is whether Jones is willing to risk the future to amend the past.
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