OXNARD, Calif. -- Troy Aikman's retirement didn't sway Jerry Jones from his sales pitch. The Cowboys aren't in a rebuilding mode.

Not even an NFL record $23 million of dead cap money would budge Jones from his stance. Ten wins, he predicted. But Tuesday's release of starting quarterback Tony Banks after 20 practices finally got Jones to mention the "R" word. As for the 10 wins, he's still not giving up hope.

	Jerry Jones thinks the Cowboys can be successful with Quincy Carter at quarterback.

"Having to re-establish the quarterback position, if that means rebuilding, then we're rebuilding," Jones said. "But when you have Joey Galloway and Rocket Ismail, Emmitt Smith and our offensive line, it's hard for me to say we're rebuilding. We're ready to go certain places."

Jones is the ultimate NFL pitchman. On paper, the Cowboys look like one of the league's weakest teams. They are going with a rookie quarterback, Quincy Carter. They hope schemes and coaching can cover for defensive inadequacies at defensive tackle and cornerback. Still, Jones keeps selling.

"I think my 10-win bar is based on having a winning season," Jones said. "My belief is every team in the NFL ought to be able to go 8-8 with the parity we are faced with. In our case, if we can get some continuity at quarterback and keep Emmitt healthy, that's where I got the 10 number. Our offensive line is outstanding. Emmitt is outstanding. I think we are going to be able to physically protect and run the ball. Our receivers, Rocket and Galloway, have the opportunity to compromise the defense."

The quarterback position, however, leaves the Cowboys either at the crossroads or off the side of the road. With Carter, the Cowboys simply don't know. Other teams considered him a reach in the second round. He's raw. He left Georgia early after a season in which he completed less than 50 percent of his passes and had more interceptions (10) than touchdown passes (six).

Cowboy veterans speak the company line that they like his enthusiasm and skills, but quietly they admit Banks gave them a better chance to win immediately. After all, he's won 25 games as an NFL starter. Carter has only 46 plays in preseason.

As each practice day dragged on, Jones and coach Dave Campo came to a conclusion that the Cowboys had to take the air out of the ball to be successful this season. The strategy isn't unlike a small college basketball team going against a powerhouse like Duke. In basketball, opponents can't score much if the offense plays volleyball and keeps passing the ball until the shot clock runs down.

	Quick Starts
	Quincy Carter was a second-round draft pick this year and is poised to be the Cowboys starter. Dating back to 1990, five quarterbacks drafted after the first round have made at least five starts their rookie season, including the man Carter is set to replace, Tony Banks.
		W-L	TD/INT
	'99 Shaun King TB	4-1	7/4
	'98 Charlie Batch DET	5-7	11/6
	'97 Jake Plummer ARI	3-6	15/15
	'96 Tony Banks STL	5-8	15/15
	'90 Tom Hodson NE	0-6	4/5

Campo's plan is to let Carter run the 40-second clock down to five or six seconds before snapping the ball. Any game in which Carter has to throw 30 passes may be a bad game for the Cowboys.

"We're going to work hard to manage the ball game," Campo said. "We can't allow many touchdowns. We knew at the end of last season that we were tight against the cap, so the defensive football team that was there at the end of last season was going to be our football team this year."

That defense allowed 4.9 yards a rush and 37 offensive touchdowns. That defense had only 26 sacks and intercepted only 16 passes. That defense lost starters Chad Hennings, Leon Lett, Alonzo Spellman, Ryan McNeil, Barron Wortham and Phillippi Sparks.

"Look at the defense from four to five years ago," strong safety Darren Woodson said. "Half the guys I don't even know now. But they drafted players who are hungry to play and hungry to win. I don't know where we are right now. Last year, though, we had one of the worst run defenses in the league. There's a lot more scheming this year, more eight-man fronts, more aggressiveness. It is strange. I played with a lot of great players. To see us go from that to what we have now is ..."

Woodson still believes because he's a Cowboy. Campo and the coaching staff are sensitive to one of few remnants from their great past, so they've built their plans to fit what's left of the talent. Defensive schemes are simplified. The plan is to go to the two-deep approach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But they are doing it without Warren Sapp and Booger McFarland and all those good cornerbacks.

"Teams are going to be able to move the ball on us," Campo said. "I don't want to use the 'bend but don't break' philosophy, but we're going back to the early 1990s where we kept everything in front of us and forced teams to make plays. You stop them on first down and go for the second-and-longs. If they throw and catch the ball on our young secondary, then we've got to play good red-zone defense. That's what we did for a long time."

	Dallas Decline
	The Cowboys offense has gotten progressively worse in recent seasons. Their last NFC East title was in the 1998 season when they averaged better than 340 total yards per game, and had 27 more touchdowns than turnovers. Last year, Dallas managed under 280 yards per game and had eight more turnovers than touchdowns.
		Yds/Gm	TD	TO
	2000	279.8	31	39
	1999	323.6	42	23
	1998	340.6	42	15

Hold opponents to field goals or blown scoring drives and the Cowboys will have a chance. Shootouts would turn into blowouts, so Campo wants to keep the scores down.

"Hopefully, we won't give up a lot of points because we won't give up the big play," Campo said. "If we don't give up big plays, then we got a chance to sneak one out at the end."

Which is why the Cowboys came to the conclusion that Banks, despite his experience and strong deep arm, wasn't going to make the difference for them. His game has been marked by the occasional mistake or interception. The Cowboys have the lowest margin of error of any team in football because they don't have the talent to compensate for their mistakes.

They watched Carter's strong passing arm and felt it matched Banks'. In their view, Carter was the better runner who can make plays with his feet.

"He's not going to be a 60-percent thrower, so you have to make up for the efficiency with his runs," Jones said. "You have to be able to pull the ball down and run to create that dimension. We recognize his passing efficiency is going to be a challenge for him. I know that this might not be consistent with ball control theories, but we would rather him throw the deep ball than the intermediate. He's an excellent deep thrower. Plus, he's the second or third fastest quarterback in the league."

This is where Jones crosses his fingers and hopes. If Carter can survive his rookie season, the Cowboys, who will have perhaps the second or third pick in the draft, can draft or sign players to surround Carter. They can go for third and fourth receivers. They can draft defensive tackles and cornerbacks.

"In 1989, we had no speed," Campo said of their 1-15 past. "We had nothing back then to be honest with you. We had Michael Irvin and a young Troy Aikman. We had a no-name defense. Ken Norton was the only guy who could run halfway decent. Our defense can run with any in the league. In fact, Troy might have had a more difficult time this year than Quincy because of the cast of characters around."

After all, the Cowboys are rebuilding.

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.