Matthew Stafford A Future Replacement For Cowboys QB Tony Romo?

Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News writes that when the time comes for the Cowboys to replace QB Tony Romo, he expects owner Jerry Jones to go “shopping for a proven commodity.”

Interestingly enough, Gosselin suggests Lions QB Matthew Stafford as a potential option who could be on the team’s radar in the coming years.

Gosselin points out that Stafford is under contract through the 2017 season and won’t turn 30 until 2018. He’s also a local product who has has produced a 5,000-yard passing season and actually reached the 20,000 career passing yards mark faster than Hall of Famer Dan Marino.

Rather than draft a quarterback, who will almost certainly need time to develop, Gosselin believes the Cowboys would be better served exploring a way to get Stafford to Dallas in 2018.

By the time Stafford would be available, Romo would be 38 years old and carrying a huge cap figure.

Romo, 35, is in third year of his seven-year, $119.5 million contract that included $55 million guaranteed. He’ll make base salaries of $17 million (2015), $8.5 million (2016), $14 million (2017), $19.5 million (2018), and $20.5 million (2019) over the next five years.

Stafford, 27, has come under a great deal of criticism this year after the Lions got off to a disappointing 0-5 start to the season. However, he bounced back this past weekend and led the Lions to an overtime win against the Bears.

He has three years remaining on his five-year, $76.5 million contract that included $41.5 million guaranteed. Stafford will make base salaries of $9.5 million (2015), $17 million (2016), and $16.5 million (2017) over the remainder of the agreement.

This season, Stafford has thrown for 1,610 yards while completing 64.6 percent of his passes to go along with 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions over the course of six games. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the worst quarterback out of 36 qualifying players.