IRVING, Texas -- The lie Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett told themselves this offseason about Tony Romo's health must end.
That lie -- the one about how Romo will hold up physically, so the backup quarterback isn't all that important -- is the primary reason why the Dallas Cowboys are 3-8. Their backup quarterbacks are 0-7 this season.
Jones and Garrett would vigorously disagree. So what? Their actions speak so loud we can't hear what they're saying about their backup quarterback situation.
As soon as they lost Romo the first time on Sept. 20 because of a broken collarbone, the Cowboys acquired Matt Cassel from the Buffalo Bills as his backup. A week later, the Cowboys started talking about a quarterback competition.
Two weeks and two losses later, Cassel had the job. He's 0-4 as a starter.
Cassel's quick ascension is an indication the Cowboys never believed in Brandon Weeden as their backup, which is why they benched him so quickly. It's also an indication they should've never started the season with him as the backup.
He was ineffective in his only start in 2014 and they should've believed their eyes instead of convincing themselves that he would improve with a full offseason and training camp to grasp the nuances of the offense.
Then again, it wouldn't have mattered because Garrett, playcaller Scott Linehan and quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson emphasized the importance of not making a mistake so much that Weeden rarely looked more than 10 yards downfield before throwing a safe pass to a running back or tight end.
It's time for the Cowboys to invest a premium pick in the first two rounds on a rookie quarterback who can eventually become the starter, when Romo is ready to retire.
That's better than hoping Garrett and his crew can turn Johnny Manziel, Robert Griffin III or Colin Kaepernick -- each a young, failed starter who could be a free agent in the offseason -- into a viable backup. If the Cowboys want to keep Cassel on the roster and go with three quarterbacks, so be it as long as they add Romo's eventual replacement in the offseason.
Understand, Dallas has drafted only five quarterbacks since Jones bought the team in 1989 -- and only two since 2001.
Their approach was fine when the Cowboys could depend on Romo being in the lineup every day, but he had two back surgeries in 2014 and broke his collarbone twice this season. Don't forget he also missed the final regular-season game of the 2013 season with a playoff berth on the line.
Old players get hurt more often and take longer to recover. Romo is 35 and will play at least three more seasons before it makes sense to release him. The salary cap penalties are too high to realistically do it before then.
Still, it's silly to expect Romo to play 16 games anymore, and it's irresponsible to let this team be held hostage by its backup quarterback.
Finally, it's time to draft Romo's replacement so the season doesn't end the next time he gets hurt.