Ashley Fox on ESPN.com thinks so. She calls the Cowboys owner/general manager’s decision to spend the hours leading up to the NFL draft at the celebration of the former president’s new museum his “Cabo moment.” She’s referring to when quarterback Tony Romo was criticized for taking a trip to Mexico with then-girlfriend Jessica Simpson in the week before a playoff game in 2008.
Romo needed a Mexican beach and a blonde to prepare for his next big moment. Jones apparently needed five United States presidents and an adoring audience to prepare for his. While every other general manager in the NFL was disseminating false information and trying to orchestrate trades to better his draft position, Jones was attending the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library at Southern Methodist University. Jones should have been re-evaluating his draft board instead of rubbing elbows with political power brokers and dignitaries.
Later Thursday night, Jones threw his own pick in the end zone. He allowed himself to get fleeced by the best team in the Cowboys’ conference, one that is already loaded with talent and stands in the way of Dallas’ quest to win its first Super Bowl in 17 years.
Jones has been criticized by many for his decision to trade down for a later first-round pick to gain just an addition third-round pick, as well as for the player he chose to take 31st overall:
Jones dropped back to select a player he could have gotten on Friday night and most likely could have gotten some time on Saturday. Wisconsin center Travis Frederick isn’t a first-round talent. Even Frederick was shocked to be a first-round pick.
ESPN NFL Insider Ed Werder queried five teams after the first round and none had Frederick as a first-, second- or third-round talent. One had Frederick as a solid sixth-rounder. Another said he was a sixth- or maybe even a seventh-round pick.
But would he have made any better decision had he skipped out on the party at W.’s new monument? I doubt it.
Just like I’m pretty sure that Mexican vacation didn’t cost Romo that playoff game.
