Cowboys VP: Passing on Manziel was best for getting to Super Bowl sooner

It's been five days since the Dallas Cowboys chose to pass on Johnny Manziel and draft Notre Dame offensive lineman Zack Martin, but it's still a popular topic among Cowboys fans.

Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen Jones was asked about the move Tuesday during a conference call with Cowboys season ticket holders.

"We just felt like at the end of the day, as talented as he was, and we had him high on our board in the first round, but we have a quarterback, a great one, in place in Tony Romo," Jones said. "We had enough confidence to guarantee him almost $50 million on an almost $20 million extension. And that extension starts this year. We really made the ultimate decision, Jerry [Jones] did, that it was in our best interest to put players around Tony to make him even better and give him a shot to go win a Super Bowl, which is what everybody's goal is in this organization. We certainly felt like we did that in Zack Martin."

Jones views Manziel as an immediate starter in the NFL, adding that he doesn't think the Heisman Trophy winner has the patience that Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers displayed, sitting behind Brett Favre for three years before becoming the Packers' full-time starter.

Jones compared passing on Manziel to the 1998 draft when the Cowboys passed on Randy Moss. Nineteen other teams also passed on the seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, but the Cowboys are the team that's remembered most.

"I'm sure Johnny Manziel is going to have a great career," Jones said. "We wish him nothing but the best, but there's no doubt in my mind, we made the very best decision we could for the Cowboys in terms of what is going to help us get to a Super Bowl the soonest."

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