Cowboys Give Up on Drew Henson

| Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Much touted quarterback prospect Drew Henson’s ride with the Dallas Cowboys is apparently coming to an end, despite getting only one half of game experience in his three year stay. Pete Aldrich reports, “Jean-Jacques Taylor just checked in from the Bill Parcells news conference. The news: Drew Henson won’t be on the roster and the team is trying to trade him.”

I can’t say I’m surprised, although I am disappointed. This is yet another wasted draft pick (a third, traded to the Texans for his rights) for a quarterback who we really have no information on other than whatever the coaching staff saw in practice. That Parcells stuck with Vinny Testaverde late in a 7-9 season rather than giving Henson a chance to prove himself remains one of the oddest decisions during his tenure.

UPDATE: JJT adds more detail.

The Drew Henson experiment is over. “Drew Henson is not going to be on roster this year,” coach Bill Parcells said Wednesday. “I just didn’t see enough. We tried very diligently with this guy.”

Henson, signed three years ago, was supposed to eventually be the Cowboys quarterback of the future. But he started only one game – Thanksgiving Day against Chicago in 2003 – and was benched at halftime.

Tony Romo distanced himself from Henson last year, claiming the backup job. And Romo has been even more impressive in training camp and preseason games the past month as Henson fell more out of favor. In the past two weeks, Henson lost practice repetitions to undrafted free agent Matt Baker. Henson did not play in either of the Cowboys’ first two preseason games.

He will count about $3 million against the club’s salary cap, though he’s no longer on the team.

“I don’t keep players that I don’t think can play for us,” Parcells said.

Parcells declined to talk about whether Dallas is trying to trade him. “I’m really not at liberty to discuss the situation because I’m not privy to that information,” Parcells said. “He’s not going to be on our roster. That’s all you need to know. This is a little bit of a limbo situation. There are a couple of moving parts.”

Parcells said the Cowboys aren’t sure who will be their third quarterback when the season starts. They could keep Baker or attempt to acquire an experienced veteran.

Frankly, though, a $3 million cap hit could mean that other players have to be cut, too. It makes very little sense from that standpoint.

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