The reasoning behind Andre Gurode’s release this week, according to Cowboys’ owner and general manager Jerry Jones, was simple enough: Phil Costa won the position battle with the five-time Pro Bowler.
Of course, as everyone correctly assumed after the move was made, finances played a role as well. It’s just that, judging by Jerrah’s remarks in his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday, they were far from the only determining factor in the release.
“You should look at this one based upon the facts as you see them,” Jones said, via the Dallas Morning News. “You saw Phil Costa step up and for all practical purposes win the starting job at center. Win it heads up. ... Then you saw the reality of having a significant salary for a backup player.”
So is Jerry nervous at all about setting his Pro Bowl quarterback behind a line consisting of a sole veteran (Kyle Kosier), a guy with one year of starting experience (Doug Free), a second-year center with no starting experience (Costa) and two rookies (Tyron Smith and Bill Nagy)?
Well, not really. And his reasoning here, too, is pretty simple: After all, wasn’t Romo injured behind a veteran line last year?
“Let’s keep in mind, the experienced offensive line last year got our quarterback knocked out, or was a big part of getting our quarterback knocked out, early on in the season and that really hurt us,” he said. “Not that we were playing well to begin with. So it’s not that our experience kept us from doing the one thing you really want to do, and that’s get your man or at least get in front of your man. What you’re going to see is a likelihood of more getting in front of your man, less people coming free."
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