ESPN

The most interesting Dallas Cowboys news of the past week had nothing to do with whom they picked or didn't pick in the NFL draft. It was Jerry Jones' post-draft revelation about the increased level of responsibility quarterback Tony Romo now carries. Just a few weeks after signing Romo to a seven-year, $119.5 million contract, Jones said Saturday that Romo would have more input in offensive game-planning throughout the week and play calling in games. That Romo would be spending "Peyton Manning-type time on the job."

PODCAST
ESPN Dallas' Jean-Jacques Taylor weighs in on Jerry Jones' remarks regarding Tony Romo's work ethic, Romo's commitment to being the Cowboys' QB and more. Listen

“Tony is more involved in the finished product,” Jones said. “He is more involved, unequivocally. I’m counting that in. That ought to produce some success. It will produce some success. I’m talking about the kind of plays we run, a lot of what we do offensively."

They're not messing around, either. Romo was called in before the draft to review and offer input on some of the players the Cowboys were considering, and the team used its first three draft picks on offensive players to provide support and expanded options for its franchise quarterback.

There are plenty of reasons this makes sense. Romo is an X's and O's nerd whose contribution to the offensive game planning and play calling is likely to be of value. And even if Dallas doesn't end up running the plays he prefers every time, his increased level of investment in the process is likely to help things go more smoothly for him and coach Jason Garrett on game days. This idea is not, on its face, a bad idea.

But it's worth examining what this means for the franchise in the big picture. The Cowboys are now, for better or for worse, all-in on Romo to an unprecedented and precarious extent. Signing him long-term and increasing the power he wields within the building means that Romo, now more than ever, controls the Cowboys' fate for the foreseeable future. The number of things riding on his ability to elevate the team to playoff-caliber and championship-caliber levels has increased dramatically.

Take Garrett, for example. Whether Garrett succeeds as a legitimate NFL head coach rests more than ever on Romo. If Romo isn't up to this new task and the Cowboys flop in 2013, Garrett's job status becomes more tenuous than ever. Maybe Jones doesn't fire him, because he's stubborn and has strong personal feelings for Garrett. But another disappointing year in Dallas would be grist for the theory that Jones is the only one who thinks Garrett has a future as a great NFL coach.

And there's Jones himself, who burst onto the Cowboys' ownership scene way back when as a winner of Super Bowls but has, over the past decade and a half, become the butt of fans' angry jokes and a target of their derision. The extent to which Romo succeeds as Cowboys quarterback is likely to determine whether Jones goes down in Cowboys fans' memory as a perpetually distracted, franchise-wrecking buffoon or whether he can pull a George Steinbrenner-type late-career reputation renaissance.

Romo's success or failure in his expanded role could affect the Hall of Fame chances of DeMarcus Ware. It could determine the career path of Dez Bryant. It will decide the way history views an entire era of Cowboys history -- either paving over the painful memories of flops against the Seahawks and Giants and Vikings and Redskins or allowing them to define a decade's worth of teammates, coaches and anyone else connected with Valley Ranch.

We knew when they signed him to the extension that the Cowboys believed in Romo as their franchise quarterback. He's shown potential for greatness, and their investment in him is their way of saying they believe his ability can and will override his history of falling short in the biggest games. What we didn't know until this past weekend was the unprecedented extent to which the Cowboys were tying their success to Romo as a leader and a football mind.

Given the extent of the financial investment, the importance of the quarterback position in today's game and Romo's own eagerness to participate at this level, it's not a bad move. Offensive play calling has been a problem for the Cowboys, and if you're looking to improve it, why not involve the guy who's got to carry out the plays that are called?

If it works, they'll all be hailed as geniuses during some upcoming Super Bowl week in New Jersey or Arizona or New Orleans or wherever. But in the end, it's still going to come down to the way Romo plays. He and the Cowboys can do all of the improved, streamlined game planning they want to do, but if Romo keeps throwing bad interceptions at the worst possible moments in the biggest games ... well, at this point he's taking everybody down with him.

Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones spoke to the team's season-ticket holders and sponsors via a conference call Wednesday.

Jones spoke for an hour and according to the voice of the Cowboys Brad Sham, there were nearly 1,000 questions though he didn't answer all of them.

PODCAST
ESPN NFL expert John Clayton joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to talk about Jerry Jones' conference call, the Cowboys' draft picks and much more. Listen

Here's some highlights:

On Valley Ranch being a country club atmosphere: "I don’t think that we do have a country club atmosphere around here. There’s too much competition. These players recognize how fortunate they are to be in the NFL, to have these opportunities. We’ve got as good or better leadership than my experience in 24 years with the Cowboys has seen."

On the safety position, whish has veteran Will Allen and young players in Matt Johnson, Barry Church, Danny McCray and draft pick J.J. Wilcox: "I think we’re in good shape at safety." Jones later added, "I don’t know when I’ve ever seen a player impress our staff without having played in a ballgame any more than Matt Johnson." Jones was asked about naming starters and didn't, instead praising each player.

Defensive end Anthony Spencer is signed for this season at $10.6 million, but he's been franchised the last two seasons. There is some concern if the Cowboys will lock Spencer up long-term: "We'd like to have him under a long-term agreement. He knows that."

PODCAST
On his conference call, Jerry Jones talked about leadership. Nate Newton joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the leadership experience he had with the Cowboys. Listen

On Tim Tebow, who was released by the New York Jets and why the Cowboys don't want a third-string quarterback: "We really feel good about Kyle Orton and that's where it all starts and stops right there. He will be used differently to some degree than we use (Tony) Romo, but he's capable of winning big games and we know how important that backup slot is, especially if it's temporary if you don't have Romo. We're pretty set at quarterback there. We wish Tim all the luck and the best in the world."

On the defense: "The defense should be the strength of our team arguably, the defensive line can be the strength of the team." Later Jones said, "Our defense will fit Monte Kiffin's scheme. It actually will be a simpler defense for this group to get. The adjustment from where we were in the 3-4 to the 4-3 will not be as significant as it might appear."

On the health of Jay Ratliff: We don't think Jay Ratliff is injury prone. He had possibly three different injuries last year. He is further down the road in his career than he was a few years ago. But we think of all that he's very sound physically and we think he'll flourish in this defensive scheme. He's a natural three technique."

On the draft board: Jones said the Cowboys had center Travis Frederick ranked ahead of LSU safety Eric Reid. The Cowboys moved down in the NFL draft, switching from No. 18 to No. 31 after a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. Frederick was projected as a second-day pick and said he was surprised the Cowboys grabbed him in the first round. Jones also indicated there were two to three safeties ranked ahead of Wilcox on the draft board. Wilcox was a third-round pick.

Jones on losing to the New York Giants at Cowboys Stadium (The Cowboys open the 2013 season at Cowboys Stadium against the New York Giants. The Cowboys are 0-4 against the Giants at home): "It is a pain."

The Cowboys have some interest in free-agent tackles Eric Winston and Tyson Clabo but haven't entered into any contract talks or planned any visits to Valley Ranch.

PODCAST
On his conference call, Jerry Jones talked about leadership. Nate Newton joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the leadership experience he had with the Cowboys. Listen

But in our what seems like a daily update of the Cowboys' desire to find a new right tackle, there's a report in the Baltimore Sun saying the Cowboys made an inquiry regarding Bryant McKinnie.

A source told ESPNDallas.com the team doesn't have interest in McKinnie at this time. He played 16 games in the 2012 regular season but didn't register any starts. McKinnie, however, started at left tackle in the postseason.

UPDATE: The Baltimore Ravens announced Thursday they have reached an agreement in principle with left tackle Bryant McKinnie on a two-year contract.

The Cowboys' current right tackle, Doug Free, is still on the roster and multiple sources indicate nothing new has occurred with his status. The Cowboys would like Free to take a pay cut or he could be released. If Free is cut, the Cowboys would save $7 million, but they wouldn't have that money available until after June 1.

During the NFL draft weekend, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said the Cowboys want to keep Free.

In the last two drafts, the Cowboys have added pass-catching tight ends James Hanna and Gavin Escobar.

PODCAST
ESPN NFL expert John Clayton joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to talk about Jerry Jones' conference call, the Cowboys' draft picks and much more. Listen

Does this mean the Cowboys are ready to move on from veteran Jason Witten?

Of course not. If anything, the Cowboys want to add to their passing game and believe the talent obtained the last two years will help accomplish that.

Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones offered these thoughts on his tight ends: "The answer is simply if you have that kind of talent, certainly as (receiving tight ends) and can get some blocking out of (them), then what does that allow us to do? Frankly, not necessarily different in concept ... But it really allows us to have different challenges, different views (against the defense), maybe doing the same things, but they are dealing with different types of personal."

Witten is an elite player and has been for years. Last season, he caught a team-high 110 passes for 1,039 yards and three touchdowns. Witten does need more touches in the red zone and it's amazing he doesn't have more touchdown catches given his ability to slip through defenses. He doesn't have great speed, but he's fast enough to get down field to make plays.

Adding Escobar and Hanna helps the Cowboys' offense in the future.

But the present at the tight end position is certainly with Witten.

As he continues his review of last week's NFL draft, Mel Kiper Jr. has a list of players taken in rounds 4 through 7 who he thinks could make an impact this season. One Dallas Cowboys pick was mentioned.

Dallas Cowboys

-Joseph Randle, RB, fifth round: Mel calls him the second-most talented running back on the Cowboys' roster after injury-prone starter DeMarco Murray. If that's not a recipe for touches ...

I get the sense that Dallas Cowboys fans would feel better about the team if it signed one of these free-agent offensive tackles. Tyson Clabo and Eric Winston are the names you're hearing, and it's pretty obvious either would be an upgrade over Doug Free. Neither has yet signed elsewhere, so there's no real reason to panic. But with all of the salary cap problems the Cowboys have had this offseason it's understandable to worry whether they can afford to sign one of these guys.

Calvin Watkins reports, however, that the Cowboys have more than $5 million in cap room at the present time, not counting the $2 million they'll get in June when the release of Marcus Spears takes effect and not counting the $7 million (post-June 1) they could save by cutting Free. This would seem to indicate that they can sign someone like Clabo and still sign their draft picks (especially since their first-rounder ended up being No. 31 and not No. 18, a distinction likely to save them somewhere around $300,000 against this year's cap). The picks don't need to be under contract prior to June 1, so the Cowboys can wait until then to take care of that even if they sign Clabo in the meantime.

PODCAST
ESPN Dallas' Jean-Jacques Taylor weighs in on Jerry Jones' remarks regarding Tony Romo's work ethic, Romo's commitment to being the Cowboys' QB and more. Listen

The issue appears to be Free, and how they handle his contract situation. It's easy for us to sit here and say they should cut him based on the way he's played since they signed him two offseasons ago. But the Cowboys don't like to give up on their guys, and it's likely they'd prefer to keep Free at a much lower salary and as a backup tackle. If Free would agree to the pay cut now, they'd add to their cap room and could make a move on a Clabo with more clarity about their overall 2013 cap situation. But if Free won't agree to the pay cut the Cowboys have in mind, then they're a month away from being able to cut him and things could get held up.

As you know, I like the move the Cowboys made to take center/guard Travis Frederick in the first round last week. Along with fellow first-rounder Tyron Smith, he'll give the Cowboys at least two offensive line starters about whom they can feel good. Adding a veteran such as Clabo, whom they appear to like, would up that number to three, and then they could throw a bunch of Phil Costa/Mackenzy Bernadeau/Nate Livings types into the mix for the other two spots and hope that competition pushes two of them to play better.

The Cowboys have enough talent on their roster to be a playoff team in 2013, but they have to get better offensive line play in order to cash in on that. Step 1 was the first round of the draft. Step 2 remains up in the air. But it appears they do have the resources to pull it off.

IRVING, Texas -- The Cowboys made it clear they will become a two-tight end personnel team after the draft.

PODCAST
ESPN Dallas' Jean-Jacques Taylor weighs in on Jerry Jones' remarks regarding Tony Romo's work ethic, Romo's commitment to being the Cowboys' QB and more. Listen

Jerry Jones invoked the New England Patriots when discussing the scheme following the selection of San Diego State tight end Gavin Escobar in the second round. The Cowboys also had Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert graded as a first-round pick.

With Jason Witten (who is coming off a 110-catch season), James Hanna and Escobar, the Cowboys are in position to attempt to simulate what Tom Brady does with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

We offer a Q&A with ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss for an explanation of how New England uses its “12 personnel.”

Archer: What makes the Patriots' use of the two-tight end package work so well?

Reiss: It starts with the unique talents of the tight ends themselves. Rob Gronkowski (6-foot-6, 265 pounds) is obviously a very tough matchup for a linebacker or safety. He's more likely to be aligned closest to the offensive tackle, but because he runs so well, the Patriots will also split him out wide. He's equally as effective as a blocker or pass-catcher, making him a true "combination" tight end. Aaron Hernandez (6-1, 245) is a nice complement to Gronkowski. He is more receiver-like and thus is split out wide more often or on the move, although he does align close to the tackle on occasion and is competitive as an in-line blocker even though it's not his forte. We've seen the Patriots run the same offense with different tight ends and it hasn't been as effective (e.g., last season's playoffs when Gronkowski was out with injury), so I think the first key is to acknowledge that it's more about the players than the scheme when it comes to the Patriots' two-tight end package and its success.

Archer: How does it differ, in your mind, from how other teams use the package?

Reiss: Probably the biggest thing is how many formations and adjustments they can run out of it, which comes back to the versatility and unique skills of the top two tight ends, Gronkowski and Hernandez. They could be empty in the package, with both tight ends split out wide, or more tightly compact in a traditional look with both tight ends aligned next to the tackles. Sometimes they play up-tempo with it. Other times they slow it down. So there are really so many things you can do out of the package, which again is tied to the uniqueness of Gronkowski and Hernandez. When one of those players has been injured, the package isn't as dynamic, and at times in those situations, the Patriots will use a third receiver over a second tight end.

Archer: How do most teams combat it with their defensive personnel?

Reiss: I'd say most teams combat it with a nickel package, essentially treating Hernandez as a receiver. When that happens, the Patriots have made a concerted effort to turn to the running game, feeling that a two-TE package should be able to win that matchup against a smaller defense. The results were uneven last season when it was two-TE versus nickel, in part due to some injuries on the offensive line. One of the clear-cut examples of it working to a T was last year's Sept. 30 win over the Bills, when they played a small nickel the entire game (it could have even been a dime but they listed 6-1, 220-pound safety Bryan Scott as a linebacker) and the Patriots powered through them for 247 rushing yards. Other teams have stayed in base, but it takes special personnel to do that and not get beaten by the tight ends in the passing game.

Archer: Is there ever a downside to it, like shrinking the field too much?

Reiss: If we wanted to nitpick from a Patriots perspective, we could say that relying so heavily on the two-TE package when your top receiver is more of a slot option (Wes Welker from 2007 to '12) means that your three best pass-catchers all do their best work in the middle of the field. So I guess there is a part of it where "shrinking the field" could come into play, but I don't think that's a reason not to do it. If you have two special tight ends, they can be matchup-busters and you can dictate terms based on their versatility. If the defense plays nickel against you, pound it at that team. If the defense plays base personnel, spread that defense out and let it rip.

Archer: Has the package all but eliminated the fullback in the offense?

Reiss: Yes, for the most part. The Patriots used tight end Michael Hoomanawanui in a fullback role at times last season. Other times, most often closer to the goal line, they used an offensive lineman as a fullback. But overall, when running so much of the offense with two tight ends, you're most often going to see two receivers and a running back paired with them unless it's a short-yardage situation. In terms of building the 53-man roster, one point that Bill Belichick has made is that the fullback is basically competing against a running back, tight end or linebacker for a spot, and it often can come down to special teams contributions. The Patriots didn't carry a pure fullback last season.

At the end of last year's NFL draft, Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones announced the signing of undrafted free agent guard Ronald Leary from Memphis. The Cowboys guaranteed $214,000 to Leary with the hope he would make the 53-man roster out of camp.

PODCAST
Chuck Cooperstein, Matt Mosley and Glenn "Stretch" Smith discuss the Cowboys' draft picks and who was influencing Jerry Jones' decisions. Listen

Leary didn't, instead playing on the practice squad for the bulk of the season until the Cowboys had to promote him to the 53-man roster after the Oakland Raiders put in a claim for him.

Leary improved as the season progressed and again has a shot to make the 53-man roster in 2013.

Fast-forward to this year when the Cowboys signed undrafted linebacker Brandon Magee over the weekend. Magee received a $70,000 signing bonus, more than any seventh-round pick from last year's draft.

The Cowboys were interested in drafting Magee in the middle rounds, but his size (5-foot-11, 229 pounds) and health (he injured his elbow in Arizona State's bowl game) made selecting him a risky proposition. However, the Cowboys were impressed with his 113 total tackles last season at Arizona State, which earned him second-team All-Pac-12 honors.

Magee is completely healthy, according to his agent, Blake Baratz, and looking forward to next week's rookie minicamp.

The Cowboys project Magee as a strongside or weakside linebacker because of his speed (4.68-second 40-yard dash at Arizona State's pro day) and ability to make plays on the ball.

Some NFL teams were a little scared off by Magee's baseball ambitions. The Boston Red Sox own his rights, but Magee's desire is to play in the NFL.

The Cowboys are looking for good fits in Monte Kiffin's 4-3 defense, and once they find someone, Jones will make sure he spends the money to grab him, much like he did with Leary.

This year's pet project, if you will, is Magee, who will have to play well on special teams and on the defense with the backup units to make the roster.

Still sorting out what went down last week in the NFL draft, Todd McShay has selected a "Best pick" and a "Questionable pick" for each team in the league. Here's what he came up with for the NFC East's teams:

Dallas Cowboys

Best: Gavin Escobar

Questionable: Travis Frederick

Todd says Escobar has the best hands of any tight end he evaluated for this draft. As for Frederick, as has been the case many places, Todd's issue is not with the player but rather how high he was picked. But I still don't know what any team saw Thursday night that would have made them comfortable with waiting a round or two for the offensive lineman they wanted.

New York Giants

Best: Justin Pugh

Questionable: Johnathan Hankins

Todd's opinion of the players is at the root of this evaluation. He likes Pugh a lot -- thinks he projects as a guard, but doesn't rule out tackle. He's less high on Hankins, saying he struggles with technique and offers little in the pass rush.

Philadelphia Eagles

Best: Lane Johnson

Questionable: Bennie Logan

Todd likes Johnson as a fit for the up-tempo offense Chip Kelly plans to run, because of his athleticism. He questions Logan as a guy who took plays off.

Washington Redskins

Best: Phillip Thomas

Questionable: David Amerson

Todd believes Thomas was undervalued and that Washington did well to find a potential 2013 starter in Round 4. He had a fourth-round grade on Amerson, and says the Redskins could have made a safer choice at 51. I agree, but safe doesn't appear to be what the Redskins were after. They were trying to hit home runs with their early picks, and they like Amerson's raw ability.

The Dallas Cowboys were almost $20 million over the salary cap when the offseason began, but the restructuring of contracts and releasing of some players put the team in a better situation after the NFL draft.

PODCAST
Baylor head coach Art Briles joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss what kind of player the Cowboys are getting in Terrance Williams. Listen

The Cowboys are a little more than $5 million under the salary cap. They will pick up an additional $2 million when the release of defensive end Marcus Spears takes effect June 1.

That means the Cowboys will have $7 million available to sign draft picks and free agents. That figure could increase if right tackle Doug Free is released (saving $7 million) or takes a pay cut (an undetermined amount of savings).

Defensive end Anthony Spencer is under contract for $10.6 million, but his cap number could be decreased if he is signed to a long-term deal.

The Cowboys want to have salary-cap space during the season in the event obtaining a veteran free agent is necessary due to injury. Last season, the Cowboys signed Charlie Peprah, Brady Poppinga, Brian Schaefering, Ernie Sims and Anthony Armstrong because of injuries.

Right now, the Cowboys are on target to have enough space to take care of draft picks and free agents before and during the season.

You know it was coming. Yes, the draft is a seismic enough offseason event that it's worth shuffling the Power Rankings after it's done, and here they are. Let's see how the NFC East fared.

11. Washington Redskins (Pre-draft: 13). Not bad. A two-spot hop for a team that didn't have a first-round pick? The Redskins addressed needs, took some home run swings and got good value on the safeties they picked. They're a 2012 playoff team that's returning almost its entire roster intact -- assuming Robert Griffin III makes it back from his knee surgery okay. So they hang in a playoff spot in the rankings. I had them at 11. Jamison Hensley had them at 10. Mike Sando and John Clayton ranked them 15th.

12. New York Giants (14). A little bump for the G-men as well, after a standard Giants draft that saw them add pieces to the line that are as likely to help down the road as they are in the coming season. The Giants' offseason has gone well, though they do seem thin at linebacker and a secondary that didn't add much is going to have to play better than it did in 2012. I put the Giants 14th in my rankings, as did Jamison and Ashley Fox. Sando is the highest on Big Blue, ranking them 10th.

20. Dallas Cowboys (18). The near-universal overreaction to the Cowboys' draft continues, as they drop two spots. By now you know that I thought they did well, especially after the first round, and that I'm not as down on the first-round pick as everyone else is. So I have Dallas at 17, which is the highest of any of our voters. Jamison put them at 24, which is the lowest.

25. Philadelphia Eagles (26). We still don't know what to make of the Chip Kelly Eagles, and we likely won't until we see them on the field in real games come September. Their draft appears to have been a good one, and in general they've added some interesting pieces this offseason, not the least interesting of which is Kelly himself. Jamison and I put the Eagles at 23. Clayton has them all the way down at 27, and he is done with his segment.

Thoughts?

Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless discuss whether Travis Frederick will prove to be the right pick for the Dallas Cowboys.

Let's get this out of the way now: The Dallas Cowboys are not interested in quarterback Tim Tebow. No, not even as a tight end.

PODCAST
Did Jerry Jones call out Tony Romo? Fitzsimmons & Durrett react to exclusive audio of Jones talking about the quarterback's increased role, who will be calling plays for the Cowboys and the Peyton Manning-like time he anticipates Romo putting in. Listen

Multiple Cowboys sources gave the answer "no" when asked if the team wanted to sign Tebow. The Cowboys have not been linked to Tebow like the New England Patriots, and you can read about how my guys at ESPNBoston.com answered the Tebow question here.

Adding Tebow to the Cowboys -- and to any team, it seems -- would create a national frenzy.

Let's examine why it's good and bad not to bring him to Valley Ranch. (To be honest, I don't see any good from it).

1. The quarterback spot. Given the public backlash quarterback Tony Romo is receiving for his new contract, if he has a bad game in 2013 -- and believe me he'll have one or two -- it would raise the ire of the fans and push the media into asking coach Jason Garrett about benching Romo for Tebow during a rough performance. Garrett was asked about benching Romo during his five-interception game against Chicago last season when Kyle Orton was the backup. No need to add drama to your team at the quarterback spot. Also, the Cowboys don't seem enamored with using the Wildcat, given the current personnel they have.

2. Moving him to tight end. If Tebow decides to play tight end, he still doesn't fit well. The Cowboys drafted Gavin Escobar, another pass-catching tight end, to add with James Hanna and Jason Witten. The Cowboys need a blocking tight end, and that's not Tebow. While he could become a good blocker over time, his skill set is more of a receiver -- if he makes the position change.

3. Drama, drama, drama. The last thing the Cowboys need is drama. It's one thing to have issues on the field when it comes to wins and losses, but it's another to have Tebow drama. He's a good guy in the locker room, according to ex-teammates, but you have to wonder how his teammates will deal with Tebow getting besieged by reporters on a weekly basis about his thoughts on football and Christianity. It would wear you down after a while.

IRVING, Texas -- Over the last few years, the Cowboys have had draft picks who weren't ready to start practicing come rookie minicamp.

PODCAST
Cowboys second-round draft pick Gavin Escobar joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss his strengths as a tight end, the stress of the draft process and the thrill of working with Jason Witten and Tony Romo. Listen

Sean Lee, Bruce Carter, Matt Johnson and Morris Claiborne were just some of the players whose careers were delayed by either post-college surgeries or an early injury in camp.

This class doesn't appear to have those issues, other than running back Joseph Randle, who has a thumb injury. But he will wear a brace and participate in the rookie minicamp in two weeks.

Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said that Randle most likely won't catch any passes but should be fine for training camp.

The Cowboys can't afford to deal with any more injured draft picks. It's one thing to get hurt once you start working for the Cowboys, but it's another having to deal with an injury before turning pro.

The Cowboys front office talked a lot over the weekend about how the seven draft picks could become starters at some point. The pressure on center Travis Frederick is great because of the Cowboys' decision to trade down in the draft and and acquire an extra third-rounder rather than a second-round pick.

The rest of the 2013 class can morph into a starting role in the future, but there's no pressure to do so now. However, becoming major contributors in 2013 is important to the success of the Cowboys.

In order to do that, this class has to remain healthy.

The way you feel about the Dallas Cowboys' 2013 draft seems to depend on the way you feel about how they handled the first round. Ashley Fox, feels they bungled it badly, and theorizes that they did so because Jerry Jones was distracted by his attendance at the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library earlier in the day.

Now, I understand that Jerry excels at making himself an easy target. And I like Ashley's work. But on this point, I couldn't disagree with her more strongly. The way the Cowboys handled the first round has all the hallmarks of a coherent plan. A distracted decision-maker would have stayed put and taken the highest player on the board at No. 18, even if he didn't think that player was worth such a high pick. What the Cowboys did made sense on a number of levels.

First of all, they trade down with the 49ers, getting the 31st pick of the first round and the 12th pick of the third in exchange for that No. 18 pick. The biggest criticism we've heard is that they should have been able to get more from the 49ers, but different draft-value charts say different things on that and it takes two sides to make a deal. If they didn't have a player they liked at 18 and they saw a chance to get two that they did, then there's nothing wrong with taking that deal.

The player they ended up taking at 31, Wisconsin center Travis Frederick, projects as both an immediate and long-term starter for the Cowboys at either center or one of the guard spots. The second criticism is that they reached for him -- that they could have had him in the second or maybe even the third round. But (a) no one knows that for sure and (b) the 31st pick is practically the second round anyway. It's not as though they took Frederick 10th overall (or even 18th, for that matter). The Cowboys absolutely, 100 percent, more than any team needed anything in this entire draft, needed to come out of the first round with a new starter on the offensive line. They did. And they got an extra third-round pick out of the deal and used it on Baylor wide receiver Terrance Williams, a new vertical threat for Tony Romo in the passing game.

PODCAST
Cowboys second-round draft pick Gavin Escobar joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss his strengths as a tight end, the stress of the draft process and the thrill of working with Jason Witten and Tony Romo. Listen

Along the way, they added second-round tight end Gavin Escobar, who also offers the opportunity to expand their options in the passing game and represents the successor to Jason Witten down the road. With their original third-rounder, they added physical safety J.J. Wilcox, who could push for a starting spot this year. In the fourth they added a cornerback, B.W. Webb, deepening a position at which there's no such thing as too many bodies. In the fifth they took a running back, Joseph Randle, who didn't miss a game in college, to back up the injury-prone DeMarco Murray. And in the sixth they took project linebacker DeVonte Holloman.

They filled needs at good value in rounds two through six, and their second and third picks of the draft will help them add layers to their offense, offering Romo more options from play to play and game to game as his receiving threats become more numerous and varied. If it weren't for the weird way the first round went down, people would be hailing this as a fine draft for the Cowboys. And frankly, too many people are overreacting too strongly to the way the first round went down.

PODCAST
Chuck Cooperstein, Matt Mosley and Glenn "Stretch" Smith discuss the Cowboys' draft picks and who was influencing Jerry Jones' decisions. Listen

This was a lousy draft class, people. A bad year. Very little, if any, top-level talent, and if you're picking 18th that puts you in a tough spot. Considering that, and the fact that they needed to get an offensive lineman in the first round, I think the Cowboys acquitted themselves rather coolly. I certainly don't think the way they operated their first round indicates distraction or the lack of a plan. Quite the contrary, in fact.

Fans might be happier today had they gone offensive line again in the second or third round, or if they'd found a defensive tackle early. They could have stayed put at 18 and taken Sharrif Floyd, and perhaps that would have been hailed as a coup, since Floyd had been projected to go much earlier. But this is the part I never get. All we hear going into the draft is how useless all of these projections are, and then while the draft is going on everybody wants to use them to critique the picks. There was some good reason Floyd fell all the way to 23, and Dallas was hardly the only team to pass on him.

If Frederick never starts a game, or turns out to be a bust, then obviously it'll be easy to look back and say the Cowboys bungled this. But in a bad draft year, why not take the players you like instead of the ones the mock-drafters told you to like? I think the Cowboys got five players who could contribute right away, and Frederick could start on their line for the next eight years. I honestly don't see what's to rip.