The Patrick Crayton trade was a good deal for all involved.

It was a good deal for Crayton because as a thirty year old receiver with middle-of-the-road skills, the market for his services was not great. Every team in the NFL has a Crayton or two on it. Most of them are a little younger and earn less money than Patrick.

Jerry and Stephen Jones did Crayton a massive favor and showed their appreciation for his services by finding him a place where he can play on a contending team with a top-flight quarterback in need of a dependable receiver. A more perfect scenario for the lately disgruntled receiver is hard to imagine.

It was a good deal for the Chargers because they got good value for their money. Where the Cowboys are deep, the Chargers are not. Norv Turner and Phillip Rivers needed a receiver they could count on to make solid plays at crucial times. Patrick Crayton is just such a receiver. While the Cowboys would consider Crayton overpaid for what he brings to the table, the Chargers shouldn’t.

Moreover, San Diego only had to give up a seventh round pick to get him.

It was a good deal for the Cowboys because they had to do something. The handwriting was on the locker room wall. The arrival of Dez Bryant pushed Crayton another notch down the depth chart. A couple million bucks for a third receiver is not a bad deal. For a fourth receiver, it is a bit much…especially when the Cowboys think they have other less expensive, equally viable options, such as Kevin Ogletree.

It was also good for team chemistry. Since the departure of Terrell Owens, the Cowboys’ locker room has been as harmonious as a nunnery. Team spirit has been high. Camaraderie has been noticeable. Excuse-making has mostly been reduced to the office of the head coach, and even he sometimes owns mistakes and admits there might be room for improvement. Finger-pointing has been relegated to the lunchroom buffet line.

Crayton did some nice things while with the Cowboys. He was a good player for them. But he was mostly just a guy, seldom a game-changer. And now he is a guy for the San Diego Chargers.

And everyone should be happy with that.

One thing you do not have to worry about with the Dallas Cowboys’ former quarterback turned color analyst is whether or not he will mince words. When he was a player, Troy Aikman had the generic football-speak answer down so pat that people thought he had no personality. He seemed as dull as dirty dishwater. Now that he is free from carrying the burden of the most scrutinized position in professional football, he seems willing to tell it as it is…or at least as he sees it.

Last year, during the Philly game (the second one, where the giant egg was laid), Aikman criticized Roy Williams’ route running, among other things. Now, he is on record saying that if Roy Williams does not produce as a Dallas Cowboy, he will prove to be one of the biggest busts in the history of the league. His exact quote:

If Roy Williams doesn’t turn out to be the player they thought he would be when they made the trade, I think this would be one of the biggest busts in the history of the league.

Ouch! Those are some strong words. But is he right? I mean, sure, with the giving up of first and third round picks, an underperforming Williams would sure make this a bad trade, one reminiscent of the Terry Glenn mess. But one of the biggest busts in history? Let me throw out a few names to put that statement into perspective:

• Ryan Leaf, 2nd overall pick in 1998, San Diego Chargers
  
• Todd Marinovich, 24th pick in 1991, Los Angeles Raiders
• Brian Bosworth, 1st overall pick, 1987 supplemental draft, Seattle Seahawks
• Tony Mandarich, 2nd pick overall, 1989 draft, Green Bay Packers
  
• Danny Noonan, 12th overall pick, 1987 draft, Dallas Cowboys

Those are a few names that come readily to mind. I am sure the reader may have a name or two to add to the legacy of infamy that is the first-round draft bust. Roy Williams would have to stink it up pretty badly to warrant having his bust beside those busts in the NFL hall of shame.

Here’s hoping Troy is wrong. Here’s hoping Roy will prove to be everything the Cowboys’ brain trust believed him to be. His talent is certainly not in question. That only leaves the matters of heart, head, and desire.

If Roy busts, then Troy’s words…

I just think that when you have the chance to evaluate a player to the degree the Cowboys were able to and then to give up what you gave up, if he’s not a No. 1 receiver and not a highly productive player for this team, that’s a huge flaw within their scouting department

…may haunt this organization for years to come.

I doubt Aikman will ever throw Williams a pass, but he sure has hurled a heater right at his head. We’ll see if he catches it.

What is more important to a team than a franchise quarterback? Not much.

Where are the Arizona Cardinals of a year ago without the reemergence of Kurt Warner? Who wins the Super Bowl if the Steelers don’t have the steady hand of Big Ben Roethlisberger on the wheel? Subtract the Roger Staubachs, Terry Bradshaws, Joe Montanas, Troy Aikmans, and Tom Bradys of the world from their respective teams and who were the teams of the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s?

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Sure, a few teams have won championships with caretakers at the helm. Typically, those teams (see Bucs, Ravens) had suffocating defenses. Also, typically, they were one-and-done champions. The repeat offenders, the perennial championship teams all seem to have this common thread: a franchise QB.

Each franchise quarterback has his own special reason he stands apart from the pack. He may be an Elway type, draw it up in the dirt, scramble around, make a ridiculous pass to win the game. Or, he may be “Cool Hand Luke” Aikman, with a cannon for an arm and a steel beam for a spine. He may be Captain Comeback, never-say-die Staubach or pinpoint precision, perfect-passing Brady (or Montana). Whatever he is, he is the guy you want leading your team into battle.

Chicago hasn’t had such a guy since, well, since…you can’t say McMahon. So, they trade away the family farm to get Cutler and most of the critics say they got the better end of the bargain. So says the New York Post:

The Bears showed they’re serious about contending in the NFC after missing the playoffs the past two years, and in Cutler, they finally have a top-tier passer after a decades-long search.

“Time will tell if he’s going to be a franchise player,” general manager Jerry Angelo said. “We’re certainly hoping that’s the case.

But what we do know is we got a winning quarterback and we feel very good about that.”

The Bears are getting a Pro Bowl quarterback who threw for 4,526 yards, 25 touchdowns with 18 interceptions, yet got traded after a major blowup with management and new coach Josh McDaniels. Cutler wasn’t happy when Mike Shanahan got fired or when his position coach, Jeremy Bates, left for Southern California.

But this is a Cowboys’ blog. The overwhelming evidence of the importance of a franchise quarterback to the longterm – and consistent – success of a team begs the question: is Tony Romo that kind of guy?

The answer: I don’t know. Neither do you. Neither does Jerry Jones or Wade Phillips or the nearest fortune teller. But we will know the answer to this burning question soon enough. The table has been set for him. The dirty dishes (read, T.O.) have been cleared away, and now he gets to play with a tea set that doesn’t include a dude as mad as a march hare. If Tony is who the Cowboys think he is, this is his time. He must deliver now.

When you look around the league at the state of the quarterback position on most teams, you have to like the Cowboys’ chances. I echo Tim Cowlishaw’s sentiments (he of the Dallas Morning News):

You don’t get rid of Pro Bowl quarterbacks in the NFL.

You especially don’t get rid of young Pro Bowl quarterbacks in the NFL.

Romo has many critics, detractors, nay-sayers, and I have had a thing or two to say about some of his devil-may-care posturing when the media has turned up the heat on him…

But all you have to do is relive the Anthony Wright, Quincy Carter, Ryan Leaf, Chad Hutchinson, Clint Stoerner, Vinny Testaverde, Drew Bledsoe years to understand why the only way to go is give your quality quarterback whatever he desires once you have one. (Again, Cowlishaw)

So, where would you rather be this morning? Dallas? Or, Denver? And I ain’t talking the weather, here.