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."

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.

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.

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.

IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys draft is over but not forgotten, so there’s no time like now than to wonder about things that did and did not happen.

On to 5 Wonders:

** If the Cowboys are going to be a predominantly two-tight end team, like they say they are, then I wonder if they should have taken Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert at No. 18 and risked the chance that Travis Frederick would be there at No. 47. If they had gone that route, they would have had the best tight end and best center in the draft with their top two picks. The Cowboys had their eyes on Justin Pugh with the No. 31 pick, but he went to the New York Giants at No. 19. They felt Frederick was the final offensive lineman in the draft capable of being a Day 1 starter and did not want to risk losing him or waiting until the second round. That’s a draft for need, which is OK at that point, but Eifert will be somebody worth watching for the next few years.

** I wonder if the Cowboys will alter how they will evaluate defensive lineman after what happened with Sharrif Floyd. He was among the top-10 players on their board, perhaps the highest rated defensive player, and he was staring them in the face with the 18th pick. And they passed on him. Then you hear about the kid’s arm length and lack of sacks. Well, those were things everybody knew before the draft. What it came down to was scheme fit and Floyd wasn’t deemed to fit in what the Cowboys wanted in 4-3 tackles. Had they stuck with the 3-4, then I can almost guarantee they would have selected him. If a player is not a scheme fit, then he just can’t be that high on their draft board.

** I wonder if Jerry Jones understands how even in points of praise he can also hurt. Take Tony Romo as an example. On Friday, Jones said Romo played a part in the selections of Gavin Escobar and Terrance Williams in the second and third rounds. Jones was attempting to show Romo was all-in. Well, what about the current players on the roster at those positions. Should they now think Romo didn’t like them as much? And then Jones said part of the quarterback’s new megadeal meant he had to spend “Peyton Manning time” at the facility. For those who questioned Romo’s commitment, that was all they needed to further their belief that Romo was not fully vested when Romo has always been a “football junkie.”

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

**Over the last two years every team in the NFC East has looked at a quarterback-of-the-future/present in the draft. Washington did it last year with Robert Griffin III and also took Kirk Cousins. Philadelphia traded up for the top pick of the fourth round to take Matt Barkley a year after they took Nick Foles. The New York Giants grabbed Ryan Nassib in the fourth round. And the Cowboys chose to pass on the position. Again. Romo turned 33 recently. Kyle Orton is signed through 2014. I wonder if next year is the year the Cowboys look to the quarterback position. No, I do. Really. I had no problem with the club not taking a QB this year, but had Barkley, Nassib and Tyler Wilson dropped to them in the fourth round, I wonder if they would have pulled the trigger this year. Since they passed on Landry Jones, I think we know he wasn’t their guy. Is it too early to think about A.J. McCarron or Aaron Murray or any other QB? And, yes, I realize Johnny Manziel could be draft eligible. A quick aside: For those wondering why the Cowboys didn’t go after Tyler Bray, think about it. His coach, Derek Dooley, is on this staff now. Don’t you think the team would need to know all (stress all) there would be to know? And if the kid panned out at Tennessee, then Dooley would still be the Vols coach.

** I hope Marcus Lattimore turns into a great success. His story would be a terrific inspiration for everybody. But he wasn’t what the Cowboys needed. I wonder if people realize San Francisco was able to take a flier on Lattimore, who is coming back from a horrific knee injury, because it had so many picks. The Niners had the opportunity to offer up a redshirt year for Lattimore. The Cowboys, who entered the draft with six picks and added one through a trade with the Niners, didn’t. They needed a running back to help right now and they got Joseph Randle in the fifth round. If Lattimore becomes a star, then good for San Francisco but I would not use that as a knock on how the Cowboys ran their draft.

IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys still aren’t ready to announce their offensive play-caller, but one thing is clear about that process.

Quarterback Tony Romo will have much more input on which plays are in the game plan.

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

Owner/general manager Jerry Jones said part of his agreement with Romo, who signed a seven-year, $119.5 million contract extension this offseason, was the quarterback would spend “Peyton Manning-type time” at the facility.

That isn’t meant to imply that Romo hadn’t been appropriately dedicated in the past. The point is that Romo will have extraordinary responsibility in helping to create game plans in the future.

“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."

The logic is that the Cowboys want to tailor the game plans to Romo’s skills and preferences as much as possible. Every play in each game plan will essentially have Romo’s seal of approval.

Romo will work alongside head coach Jason Garrett, offensive coordinator Bill Callahan and the other offensive coaches during hours when the vast majority of the roster isn’t at Valley Ranch.

“I can speak for Jason in this respect: Everything he is about wants more buy-in and more participation from the player,” Jones said. “So if Tony, for instance, would be here Monday through Saturday and be here from seven in the morning to six o’clock at night all over this place, then that’s better than the way it’s been. We’ll have more success, and Jason believes that. It’s certainly at quarterback but he believes it at the other positions, too.

“Tony is going to have more time, more presence. Not only is having in the offseason but when the season starts, beginning Mondays, assuming we played Sundays, he’s going to have more time on the job.

“A part of what we agreed with was extra time on the job, beyond the norm. That doesn’t mean that he didn’t have a lot of time on the job, but extra time on the job, Peyton Manning-type time on the job.”

IRVING, Texas – The red flag on sixth-round linebacker DeVonte Holloman is an especially sensitive subject at Valley Ranch. He was arrested in June 2011 on a drunken driving charge.

Holloman said the Cowboys did not discuss his arrest with him during the pre-draft process. Owner/general manager Jerry Jones said the organization looked into the incident and determined it should not deter them from drafting Holloman.

“We looked at that,” Jones said. “It was a couple of years ago. When you see an incident, then you look at the whole picture and weigh it from there. It did not impact us obviously drafting him.

“We were well aware of that. I think our whole purpose of the way that we approach that challenge is, what happens when you do have an incident? Not that we have to eliminate everybody on the draft board that might have a sip of alcohol.”

The career of Cowboys nose tackle Josh Brent is in limbo due to an intoxication manslaughter charge stemming from the car crash that killed practice squad linebacker Jerry Brown Jr. in December. Brent also had a drunken driving charge in college.

Nose tackle Jay Ratliff was charged with driving while intoxicated in January after he crashed his truck into an 18-wheeler.

Cowboys officials met with Mothers Against Drunk Driving representatives in the wake of the two alcohol-related arrests.

Holloman believes his arrest caused him to slip into the sixth round of the draft.

"Knowing it might have been the thing to hurt me, I refuse to let it happen again," Holloman said. "It will not be a worry for them or me."

IRVING, Texas – Travis Frederick is well aware that the Cowboys were ripped for trading down and drafting him in the first round.

“Obviously, I think they made the right choice,” Frederick deadpanned during a Valley Ranch press conference Saturday afternoon.

Frederick, the Wisconsin center/guard selected with the 31st overall pick, certainly didn’t seem fazed by the doubters. He expects to make Jerry Jones look smart for drafting him and declaring that Frederick would be the “foundation” of the interior offensive line for years to come.

“I think that everybody that questions it and things like that, I just use that as motivation to try to improve myself,” Frederick said. “I’m excited just to get out there and show people who I am as a person and as a player. I think I’m going to change a lot of you guys’ minds.”

IRVING, Texas – Since coining the term, “Romo friendly,” Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones has had a funny way of showing that friendliness.

That’s changed in this offseason, and perhaps it has to do with the six-year extension Romo signed last month.

If the Cowboys’ first three picks are any indication, then Jones has taken a “Romo friendly” approach.

Quibble with what they got in return from San Francisco, but the Cowboys were able to address the interior of the offensive line with Travis Frederick with the 31st overall pick. Frederick will come in as a starter

“What he really is, is a foundation there in the middle that when we have him and (Tyron) Smith on the outside, we can fill in the blanks as we go along over the next few years, if he is the player we expect him to be there,” Jones said. “We needed that face. Romo called and said, ‘Thank you for my extra half second.’ That is going to mean more to us than anything I can say.”

Second-round tight end Gavin Escobar has to represent a significant shift in offensive philosophy. The Cowboys will be a heavy two-tight end team, but they say it will look differently than the ones they ran with previous second rounders Anthony Fasano and Martellus Bennett.

Escobar gives the Cowboys options, potentially down in the red zone, even if he is not a strong blocker at the moment.

Wide receiver Terrance Williams, the third-round pick gained in the San Francisco trade, is a potential big-play receiver. With the uncertain health of Miles Austin and Dez Bryant the last two years, the Cowboys needed to have a suitable outside receiver if their top-two receivers miss multiple weeks.

Williams caught 97 passes for 1,832 yards and 12 touchdowns at Baylor last season.

“I think he is a mature player,” coach Jason Garrett said. “He plays with poise, he understands how to run routes, and he’s very good at making contested catches. One of the big jumps for a lot of young receivers in the NFL is the physical nature of the game. Often times in college there is some space out there. You are going to get contested by corners in the National Football League. The size and strength that you need to go along with the quickness and speed is critical. Getting off a press and making contested plays at the top of the route. He has demonstrated all of that.”

IRVING, Texas -- What will be different this time that the Cowboys drafted a tight end in the second round to complement perennial Pro Bowler Jason Witten?

That’s not a rhetorical question. Jerry Jones really pressed Jason Garrett on the issue before taking San Diego State’s Gavin Escobar with the 47th overall pick.

“We literally by taking him had to look at each other in the draft room and say to Jason, ‘Are we going to be different because of him? Does this add a dimension?’” Jones said. “Not that we came in to be different, but if we take him to have these three tight ends with (James) Hanna and Witten, are we going to be doing some things differently that we haven’t done before?

“The answer is yes.”

Two good reasons to be skeptical: Anthony Fasano and Martellus Bennett. Under Garrett’s coaching, neither of the Cowboys’ last two second-round tight ends emerged as significant weapons in the passing game until they left Valley Ranch.

If that’s the case with Escobar, the Cowboys will have wasted another second-round pick. The Cowboys coveted the 6-foot-5 7/8, 254-pounder because of his receiving ability, certainly not because of his average-at-best blocking.

This comes down to whether Garrett can be creative enough to utilize Escobar’s talent in an offense that also features Witten, Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, DeMarco Murray and now third-round receiver Terrance Williams.

“We never got where we wanted to go with Martellus,” Jones said. “For whatever the reason, we didn’t get there.”

Bennett didn’t score a touchdown in his final three seasons with the Cowboys, basically becoming a glorified tackle-eligible. Valley Ranch folks point out that Garrett’s scheme wasn’t necessarily at fault for Bennett’s lack of production.

“Some of the things we tried to do with Martellus we couldn’t get done because we just couldn’t get it working,” Jones said. “I mean, we had packages we worked at for weeks out here sometimes to get packages in games and then he didn’t show. It sounds negative toward him, but he didn’t show.

“So having said that, we welcome the opportunity to add a real tight end, a New England-type emphasis.”

The hope is that Escobar can fill Aaron Hernandez’s role as the second tight end who often lines up in the slot or as an outside receiver.

Garrett said Escobar plays much faster than his unimpressive 4.84 40 time. That’s supported by the fact that Escobar had the best 20-yard shuttle (4.31), 60-yard shuttle (11.86) and three-cone drill (7.07) among tight ends at the combine.

Combine that athleticism with Escobar’s soft hands and ability to fight for the ball in traffic, and the Cowboys believe they’ve added another weapon for Tony Romo. Of course, we heard the same thing when they selected Bennett in 2008.

“Are we going to do the kinds of things necessary to invest that kind of pick?” Jones said. “We are.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean the Cowboys will do much new from a scheme standpoint. As Garrett pointed out, he’s always preferred to use a lot of multi-tight end formations.

“We’ve used the 12 personnel group a lot over the years, maybe as much as any team in the league,” said Garrett, who used those personnel groups much less after Bennett left in free agency before last season. “This is a guy who can really come in and make a difference for us at that tight end spot opposite Witt. We feel Witt is arguably as good a tight end in the National Football League. He has so many strengths.

“When you can add somebody else at the tight end position with this guy’s length, athleticism and pass-catching ability to go along with our outside receivers, it can be a challenging personnel group for defenses to handle.”

Escobar needs to develop as a blocker – something the Cowboys think will happens as a result of his work in the strength and conditioning program – but the hope is his presence will provide an immediate boost to a running game that ranked last in the NFC last season. The logic: Teams will be forced to play a lot of nickel defense to account for him as a receiving threat, making it easier to run the ball.

The Cowboys were dreadful running the ball out of two-tight end sets last season, averaging 2.7 yards on 120 carries, a drop from 4.2 yards a pop on 225 carries the previous season.

That’s proof that the Cowboys actually missed Bennett last season, as disappointing as his Dallas tenure was.

But the hope is that Escobar will make the Cowboys’ previous second-round tight ends distant memories, not continue the trend. The heat is on Garrett to make it happen.

IRVING, Texas -- As far as Jerry Jones is concerned, his first-round trade-down deal was further justified Friday night.

The Cowboys took Baylor wide receiver Terrance Williams with the No. 74 overall pick, which they acquired from the San Francisco 49ers along with No. 31 (Wisconsin center Travis Frederick) in exchange for the 18th pick.

Jones wanted to make sure the media knew that Williams was way higher than 74th on the Cowboys’ draft board.

For that matter, Jones said that the Cowboys considered San Diego State tight end Gavin Escobar a bargain with the 47th overall pick.

“If you look at those first three picks, if you could see our draft boards, you could see beginning in the early 20s those first three picks right there within about four of each other,” Jones said. “Those first three on our draft board are right there in that early-twenty area.”

Frederick, whom Jones refers to as “a foundation in the middle” of the offensive line, was No. 22 on the Cowboys’ board. Escobar and Williams were actually in the mid-20s. The Cowboys gave 19 players first-round grades, so they considered their top three picks all high second-round talents.

IRVING, Texas -- On his pre-draft visit with the Cowboys, safety J.J. Wilcox came away enamored with owner and general manager Jerry Jones.

“Mr. Jerry Jones is one of the best general managers and best owners I’ve ever met,” Wilcox said. “He’s calm, collected and energetic. You don’t see that much from an owner. They’re mostly laid back.”

You have to wonder how many owners Wilcox met in the draft process, but there would be a few who would not be as effusive about Jones among the fans.

Thin at safety, the Cowboys are hoping Wilcox can contribute his first year with designs on him starting I the future if not immediately. The team’s other forays into small-school safeties has not gone so well in recent years with Akwaski Owusu-Ansah (Indiana, Pa., fourth round, 2010) and Matt Johnson (Eastern Washington, fourth round, 2012) not contributing.

Wilcox has played one year of safety but caught attention from the Senior Bowl.

“There’s a lot of household names in the NFL from smaller schools,” Wilcox said.