5 Possible Destinations for Ryan Mallett

Oct 11, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys injured quarterback Tony Romo (9) on the sidelines during the third quarter against the New England Patriots at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys had high hopes going into the season, but now they’re sitting at 2-4 and at the bottom of the terrible NFC East. Dallas has had some of the worst luck in recent years, losing some of their top players for extended periods of time due to injuries. Possibly the worst of these injuries so far has been quarterback Tony Romo‘s broken clavicle. Romo will be out until at least Week 11, when his team visits the Miami Dolphins. The quarterbacks filling in for Romo have been less than stellar.

Brandon Weeden, Romo’s backup going into the season, got off to a great start in relief of the starter, closing out Dallas’ victory over the Eagles in Week 2. He was unable to lead Dallas to victory in any of the next three weeks, completing a high percentage of passes but being unable to push the ball downfield. In Week 5 against the Patriots, Weeden averaged less than 5 yards per pass attempt.

Matt Cassel was named the team’s starter for Week 7, after he was traded from the Buffalo Bills following Romo’s injury. Coming off of the team’s BYE Week, there were high hopes for Cassel in the Cowboys offense. He certainly seemed more capable than Weeden, being able to take some shots downfield and opening up the underneath for Jason Witten and the Dallas running game, but his 3 interceptions sealed the team’s fate as they lost to the Giants by 7 points.

There is certainly a few glimmers of hope for the Cowboys, as Romo returns in a few weeks and Cassel looked capable, but there’s a chance that they wouldn’t be content with this, and reach out to Mallett. Certainly with Dez Bryant hopefully returning soon from a foot injury, Ryan Mallett would open up the field even more than Cassel did, posing more of a threat downfield.

If the Cowboys did pursue Mallett, he likely wouldn’t come in to start immediately, but rather be a more capable backup to Cassel than Weeden seems to be, and possibly even to stick around once Romo returns. The Cowboys have had their fare share of off-the-field drama, and may not be eager to add another contentious personality to the locker room, so Jason Garrett likely will avoid Mallett if possible. At the end of the day though, nobody truly has any idea what Jerry Jones will do next.

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