Former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman believes Jerry Jones is eager to make a high-profile move at the backup quarterback position.
“I believe, as I sit here today, either Johnny Manziel or Robert Griffin III will be in Dallas as a backup,” Aikman told SI.com.
It’s easy to see Jones making such a move: Jones loves flashy free agent signings to excite the fans, and a former first-round pick and Heisman Trophy winner from the state of Texas would certainly qualify. It’s also easy to see why Jones thinks he needs to do something at the backup quarterback position: Over their last 36 games, the Cowboys are 17-5 with Tony Romo and 1-13 without him.
Griffin will be available this offseason because Washington will release him instead of paying his $16.2 million fifth-year option salary. Manziel will surely be available as well because Cleveland is tired of his off-field act.
Of course, Jones wanted to spend a first-round draft pick on Manziel two years ago, and the football people in the organization, as well as Jones’s son Stephen Jones, persuaded him not to make that pick. Will the football people again talk Jones out of making a splash this offseason? Or will Aikman be right about RGIII or Manziel heading to Dallas? That will be one of the most interesting questions in the NFL this offseason.