Over at dallascowboys.com, Nick Eatman tries to make the case that the Joey Galloway trade in 2000 was not really that bad. I guess he manages to make a case that the trade might not have been the worst thing Jerry ever did.

But here’s my biggest problem with the article: if the Cowboys had been just one playmaking wide receiver away from a Super Bowl, the deal made sense; maybe it was even smart. But the truth is that Dallas was not one receiver away from a Super Bowl, they were one concussion away from three consecutive 5-11 seasons.

As Eatman points out, the trade looks much worse in hindsight because Galloway went down for the season before halftime of his first game, and Troy Aikman’s career ended a few games later. Galloway was never meant to be the foundation of the team, he was brought in so the team could make one more run with Aikman under center. Had the two avoided injury, who knows how many touchdowns they’d have scored? That’s fair enough, as far as it goes, I guess – but it’s far from the whole story.

Interestingly, in making the rest of his case, Eatman inadvertently makes the opposite case. He points out that, although Dallas gave up two first round picks, they never would have picked the players Seattle did (Koren Robinson and Shaun Alexander,) and the remainder of the Cowboys drafts those years, as well as the first rounders from the five years prior, show that Dallas wasn’t very good at drafting anyway, so why not trade the pick on a sure thing?

I like Nick Eatman, but he is way off the mark on this one. By itself, the Galloway trade was not the worst thing in the world, but the fact that Dallas wasted a lot of drafts over the years is not the reason. Instead, it is absolutely emblematic of so many things that are wrong with Jerry’s performance as a GM over the years. Denying that is just Jerry enablement.

When the Cowboys traded two number ones for Joey Galloway, there was certainly reason to believe he could be a dynamic playmaker, but there was no reason on earth to believe the Cowboys were only one player away from being a contender. Jerry spent much of the late nineties giving extensions to declining players out of loyalty or gratitude for past performance, while neglecting to build a young talent base. As I’ve previously discussed, extending Nate Newton while letting Ron Stone walk was one example of this misguided philosophy.

It is probably true that, with Emmitt still on the team, the Cowboys would never have drafted Shaun Alexander. But that is not a justification for giving the pick away. It’s exactly the opposite, because Dallas should have drafted Shaun Alexander, instead of relying on undrafted placeholders like Troy Hambrick, as if Emmitt were immortal. And they should have drafted and groomed more quarterbacks over the years, so that when Aikman went down for the count, we had a credible replacement ready to take his place. Instead, other than Steve Walsh, drafted the same year as Aikman, and Bill Musgrave in 1991 (cut in camp,) the Cowboys drafted not a single quarterback before Aikman retired.

Worse still, that pattern has not changed. Since Troy retired, Dallas has drafted only Quincy Carter. I like Tony Romo, but let’s not give credit where it isn’t due. The fact is the team found, and retained him through pure, blind, stupid luck. And if they hadn’t, where would the Cowboys be right now? By contrast, up in Green Bay, where no back-up started a single game in 16 years, the Packers drafted 11 just since 1992 (the year Favre took over as the starter.) Those draft picks included: Ty Detmer, Mark Brunell, Aaron Brooks, Matt Hasselbeck and current starter Aaron Rodgers. All of those became starters somewhere in the league. The Packers, confident they have their quarterback of the future on the team, nevertheless drafted two QBs just last spring.

An NFL team needs depth, youth, talent and balance. When you strike gold with a core of Hall of Famers like the Triplets, that brings a wonderful era for the owner, coaches and fans. But those guys can’t be great forever, and when they depart, you can’t just plug the holes with flashy free agents. And even if you could, the Triplets never won a Super Bowl all by themselves. They needed a solid, talented, deep supporting cast. I know that’s hard to do. But, as the saying goes, that’s why they pay you the big money, Mr. General Manager. That’s why only one of 32 teams can win the Super Bowl every year. That’s why we remember the teams that do it more than once. It ain’t easy. And it definitely ain’t as easy as trading two draft picks for Joey Galloway.

And that’s why the only case Nick Eatman succeeded in making is this: if everything Jerry Jones believed about managing a team had been true, the Galloway trade made perfect sense. Out here in the real world, though, it still looks stupid nine years later.