Former Cowboys players throwing a little shade and urging Jerry Jones to make changes isn’t exactly new. From Michael Irvin to Troy Aikman, the legends keep circling back to how America’s Team can and should be doing better. Just last week, Irvin was pressing the Cowboys’ front office to rethink its draft strategy. But truth be told, Jones tends to run things his way. Take, for example, the 2012 Draft. Jerry Jones orchestrated a trade to move up from the 14th to the 6th overall pick, selecting LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne, despite minimal pre-draft interaction with Claiborne. However, Jones later admitted that Claiborne did not meet the team’s expectations. He struggled with injuries and inconsistent play throughout his five-year stint in Dallas and started just 43 games across five seasons.

Then there is the infamous 2020 Draft, when Jerry Jones made the Cowboys’ first-round pick from on board his $250 million yacht. Jones drafted wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, and while he turned out to be a star, the pick raised eyebrows since it was their defense that needed to be addressed first. So with the 2025 Draft approaching,  another former player has entered the conversation over the Cowboys’ situation, with a bit of hindsight and some nostalgia.

On Wednesday, former Cowboys player Marcus Spears made a special appearance on The Dan Patrick Show. The former DE and current ESPN analyst shared his thoughts on the upcoming NFL Draft, just hours away at the time. During their chat, host Dan Patrick took things back a bit, tossing out a draft-related memory.

“Marcus Spears, you were the 20th overall pick, so you went before Aaron Rodgers,” Patrick pointed out. Before he could continue, Spears chimed in to say, “Unfortunately.” When Patrick asked him why he felt that way, he had a scathing response.

“I mean, Dallas was stupid not to take him,” Spears said. When Patrick asked if there was ever a real chance Dallas would pick Rodgers, Spears answered disappointingly, “At that time, they didn’t feel like they needed a quarterback, and Romo turned out to be pretty good for some years, but you know, it’s hindsight 20/20, right? Like, if I were drafting again, I would take Aaron Rodgers before me.“

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In the 2005 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys had two opportunities to select Aaron Rodgers, but they passed on him both times. The Cowboys’ first opportunity came at the 11th overall pick. At that time, they were in need of a defensive player, and they selected defensive end DeMarcus Ware from Troy University. 

Dallas’ second chance to draft Rodgers came at the 20th overall pick, but they instead went with defensive tackle Marcus Spears.

Rodgers eventually went 24th to the Packers.

Well, does Marcus think that the team would have won a Super Bowl if they had drafted Aaron Rodgers at that time? Back then, the Cowboys were somewhat struggling at the quarterback position. Rodgers would go on to become one of the greatest QBs of that decade, eventually winning Super Bowl XLV with the Packers. Meanwhile, the Cowboys continued their drought, failing to win another Lombardi Trophy.

The Cowboys were cycling through names like Vinny Testaverde and Drew Bledsoe at QB before eventually landing on Tony Romo. Romo, a rookie free agent, became the starter after 2005 and continued to be for eight seasons. But not without his share of ups and downs. That’s exactly what Spears pointed out. He highlighted Romo’s struggles to make a point why passing on Rodgers might’ve been a big miss for Dallas.

Revisiting Dallas’ QB gamble with Marcus Spears

In 2003, the Cowboys signed an undrafted free agent, Tony Romo. For three years, he sat behind three different starting QBs and juggled between practice squads and active rosters. It was in the 2006 season that Romo was named the starting QB. In his first year as the starting QB, the team made it to the playoffs and eventually lost to the Seahawks in the Wild Card round. 

While Romo has impressive regular-season stats, he is not as successful as Aaron Rodgers as a quarterback. The former QB’s postseason performances were often not good enough. He played 156 games over his 16-year career. On the other hand, Rodgers is one of the best QBs of his era.

So far, the former Packers QB has played 243 NFL games and will likely play some more. Romo has only four playoff appearances, while Rodgers has 11. The former Packers QB has 475 TDs (as of 2025), and Tony has 258 career TDs.

 

Dan Patrick then asked the former DE what he would have done with Romo. Spears responded, “He probably would never see the field, go somewhere else and play.“

Well, that was quite an honest take on his former teammate. Romo retired in 2017 after he requested a release from the Cowboys. But if you think about what Spears said, you could argue that it was a missed opportunity for Dallas.