Jerry Jones Has No Plans to Draft WR

Just because the Terrell Owens era is over in Dallas doesn't mean we're finished talking about it. In fact, depending on how the 2009 season unfolds for the Cowboys, we could be hearing about T.O. for a while. Good times.

Owner and self-appointed team spokesman Jerry Jones commented last week that releasing Owens made the offense "Romo-friendly." Not only that, Jones is apparently under the impression that the wide receivers currently on the roster are more than adequate. Via the Dallas Morning News' Tim Cowlishaw:

In Little Rock Thursday, where he was honored by Easter Seals for his charitable work, Jones made one statement I completely agree with. "We've got a chance to get as many as nine players in the draft,'' Jones said, "and we'll need about 80 percent of those to be players.''

Correct. This team still has needs, both in the starting lineup and depth players, too.

But then he spoke so glowingly about Roy Williams, Miles Austin and Sam Hurd that Jones said there is no urgency for the Cowboys to draft a young wide receiver. "It would have to be a real opportunity for us to go there,'' he said.

It's a baffling view, especially since T.O. accounted for 26 percent of the team's receiving yards last season, second behind tight end Jason Witten. Patrick Crayton, the supposed No. 2 wideout in 2009, ranked fourth behind running back Marion Barber; Roy Williams and Miles Austin were seventh and eighth.

Yes, I know, Williams didn't arrive in Dallas until a month into the season, but that doesn't change the fact that he only averaged 1.9 catches per game once he got there. And Austin's numbers are low because he couldn't get on the field. I get that, too. But isn't that the problem with Jerry's theory that the status quo is fine?

Maybe Jones is playing the pre-draft say one thing, do another game that becomes commonplace this time of year. Or maybe he'll make a run at Torry Holt, the newly unemployed, 30-something perennial Pro Bowl wideout who doesn't divide locker rooms out of habit. Or maybe he really does think Williams, Crayton, Austin and Sam Hurd are an NFL-caliber wide receiver corps -- a view I completely agree with, by the way, if the plan is to run the ball 75 percent of the time and throw to Witten the other 25 percent.

Otherwise, the Cowboys might want to think about finding a wideout to fill the void left by T.O. But you already knew that.