Let's say this quickly, there will be life after Troy Aikman for the Cowboys if they let Jerry Jones make the tough decision, but, as these situations usually go, he has no choice.
|  | | Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman leaves the field Dec. 10 after a hard hit by the Redskins. Aikman left the game with a concussion. |
As much as Jones studies the cap consequences and long-term impact of a possible Aikman retirement, what he doesn't realize is that the guy he can least afford to retire is Emmitt Smith. It's Smith, not Aikman, who holds the key to the short-term future of the Cowboys. If the NFL learned one thing this year, it is that the one way to develop a young quarterback is with a good running game.
With that in mind, Jones should convince Aikman, whose concussions have reached nine, to retire so the next Cowboys quarterback has a chance to benefit from the aging legs of Smith. Smith might have at best three years of 1,200-yard running left. He's still a workhorse and he can make it easy for a young quarterback.
Maybe it's Michael Bishop of New England. Maybe it's Ray Lucas of the Jets. Anthony Wright has a chance. If the Cowboys pry Tee Martin away from the Steelers, he might be the answer. The Matt Hasselbecks, Trent Greens and such come at too steep a price for a team that traded away their 2001 first-rounder to give Aikman the speedy deep threat he's always wanted, Joey Galloway.
Where the Cowboys catch a break is that the NFL is in the midst of an unbelievable quarterback transition. Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Steve Young and all those stalwarts that carried the NFL since the early 1980s are gone now. Their replacement have one thing in common. They can run. If you give them a running game and decent veteran receivers, they can win.
The Cowboys situation parallels the 49ers of a year ago. The coaching staff and fans resented Bill Walsh's thoughts it was time to move away from Young and turn the franchise over to an unproven quarterback. Walsh brought Jeff Garcia from the CFL and people thought he was crazy.
Like Aikman, Young couldn't take the shots to the head anymore. A bad concussion gave Garcia the starting job, and it wasn't pretty for a while. Garcia struggled. Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens and J.J. Stokes grumbled when Garcia threw dump off passes to halfbacks and tight ends because they wanted the damn ball.
"The toughest part is that first year or two," 49ers offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said. "Coaches and fans look at Garcia and say, 'Steve Young wouldn't have taken that sack or Steve Young wouldn't have thrown that pass. You have to have a guy who has total confidence to survive when things get ugly."
Garcia was that guy. He took the criticism in the huddle and from the stands. The 49ers found out that there was life after Steve Young. Garcia made this year's Pro Bowl while the 49ers served notice that if they get an impact defensive end in the draft and don't lose halfback Charlie Garner or tackle Scott Gragg, they will be a player next year.
Sticking in the NFC, could there be any worse quarterback situation than the one with the New Orleans Saints? They had two guys named Billy Joe and Saints fans were ready to push Mike Ditka off the Talahatchie Bridge.
General manager Randy Mueller probably earned executive of the year honors by signing Jeff Blake, trading for Aaron Brooks and developing Jake Delhomme. Top that off with the addition of wide receiver Joe Horn, and the Saints suddenly became a playoff-caliber team.
Ricky Williams running ability made it easier for Blake to struggle through the early part of the regular season adjusting to the West Coast offense.
"The loss of a quarterback is catastrophic," Saints offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy said. "He's the only guy who touches the ball on every offensive down. The system needs to be built around him."
For the first two years, it's expected that the quarterback with the quick feet can use them to slip out of the pocket to get a first down. Good running backs give him a lot of third-and-3. Life is so much easier.
Those who have made the transition away from great quarterbacks know it's not pretty that first year.
"There's a lot of comfort in that quarterback who's been there for 11 years," McCarthy said. "Those guys have had a lot of success. They have the intangibles you can't teach."
The 49ers were miserable for a one month stretch of last season. Garcia was awful. He couldn't hit a slant pass for a couple of games. Confidence faded. Players grumbled. But Garcia survived that month and finished the season respectably.
Once he got through a few tough spots in late September and early October, Garcia played and acted like a Pro Bowler. Don't minimize his accomplishment. On a team with five fewer victories, Garcia beat out Donovan McNabb for a spot in the Pro Bowl.
McNabb is an MVP candidate for what he did this season with the Eagles. Nevertheless, the vote of the players and coaches couldn't cut the two-to-one fan vote distance in the Garcia-McNabb Pro Bowl debate.
These are the things the Cowboys need to learn. Flat out, they haven't been developing a replacement for Aikman, a horrible franchise blunder. Look at Green Bay. They have the most durable quarterback, Brett Favre, in NFL history. Despite that, they have developed Hasselbeck, Brooks, Mark Brunell, Ty Detmer and others.
"You do yourself an injustice if you don't get another guy ready," McCarthy said. "You want to get them young and if you teach them the fundamentals for a year or a year and a half and not rush them, you have a better chance. Look how Daunte Culpepper and others have developed given that first year to learn."
Randall Cunningham buys the Cowboys time. He can start until the team grooms a quarterback to replacement. That quarterback inherits an offense that will have Joey Galloway and Rocket Ismail next year. Smith gets the ground game going..
This year, the Cowboys thought that they could give Aikman one last fling. Now, after a miserable season they're learning how life will be without him.
Quick Hits
Here is the best way to read what Carmen Policy meant when describing next month's evaluation for the Browns. He said everyone in the management team will keep their jobs if they can agree to changes before the Super Bowl. Translated, that means Chris Palmer better fire parts of his coaching staff or he will be out of a job. Palmer, a good man, will be stubborn in sticking by his assistants. Policy set the terms on how Palmer might lose his job.
The biggest laugh came when Ravens defensive tackle Sam Adams earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl at a time when the Seahawks, who didn't want him back, didn't have a Pro Bowler for the first time in more than a decade. "They said I was fat, lazy and out-of-shape," Adams said. "I'm just glad I got with a team that is loaded
with talent and let me use my skills the best."
The bills for the great sack season for the Saints continue to grow. Defensive end Joe Johnson earned $1 million for his trip to the Pro Bowl. Defensive tackle La'Roi Glover qualified for a $5 million option buyback provision. Overall, the Saints figured they went $3 million of the cap over budget with some of the individual achievements.
What is Bucs guard Frank Middleton thinking? He angered Bills management and players for what they thought was a cheap shot that knocked linebacker Sam Cowart out for a month. He infuriated the Rams by saying he didn't like D'Marco Farr, London Fletcher, safety Devin Bush and the rest of the defense. "I can name the whole defense, I don't like them," Middleton said. Remember it was Middleton who got into a scuffle with Bush after last year's NFC title game.
Pepper Rodgers had Redskins owner Dan Snyder meeting up with college coaches at functions this week as he prepares for next season. It will be hard for Snyder to convince a big name NFL coach to take over his $100 million disappointment, so the college might be his best alternative.
In their first 14 games, the Raiders haven't been big on sacking quarterbacks, but they have been big on disabling quarterbacks. Ten times they knocked quarterbacks out of games with hits.
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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