It's time for Jerry Jones to implement a new draft strategy.

Starting with this weekend's NFL draft, the Cowboys should select a quarterback every year.

No exceptions.

Now, no one is saying the Cowboys need to use premium picks - those in the first three rounds - to accomplish this mission. They can do it by taking players in the fourth, fifth or sixth rounds.

Honestly, it really doesn't matter when they take the player as long as the Cowboys select a legitimate quarterback prospect every year.

Quarterbacks are too valuable not to invest the draft picks. They're like pitchers. You can never have too many.

Ever.

If the player works out, then the Cowboys will have a steady stream of reasonably priced backups instead of shelling out seven-digit salaries for past-their-prime former starters such as Brad Johnson or Jon Kitna, even though Kitna has apparently been quite impressive since joining Dallas last month.

Or the Cowboys can trade those backups for valuable draft picks the way Green Bay did for years, or the way Atlanta did when it shipped Matt Schaub to Houston for a pair of second-round draft picks and swapping draft position with the Texans in the first round.

Not bad at all.

The draft is not always about the present. Sometimes, it's about the future. So don't tell me the Cowboys have such a pressing need for a safety or offensive lineman or cornerback that they can't afford to spend a pick on a player who probably won't play this season.

After all, there's no guarantee how much a backup guard, tackle or cornerback will play for the Cowboys this season. Only a rookie safety has a good chance to start, and the Cowboys signed Gerald Sensabaugh to a one-year deal last month just to make sure they wouldn't have to force the issue.

Quarterbacks are important enough to sacrifice the pick.

You have to understand that Jerry understands the value of a quarterback. When Troy Aikman has brought your franchise three Lombardi trophies, then you know the importance of quality quarterback play.

And he should really understand the value of a competent backup, considering how poorly Johnson played in three starts last year.

But Jerry's seen high-priced busts over the years such as Akili Smith, Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch and Alex Smith bank millions of dollars with virtually no production.

Jerry can't stand the thought of that with such a high-risk investment, so he's tried to sign former high-profile baseball-players-turned quarterbacks such as Chad Hutchinson and Drew Henson.

Each bombed.

The Cowboys have also signed free agents such as Matt Baker, Richard Bartel, Matt Moore and, of course, Tony Romo.

Moore, now a backup with Carolina, has a solid future after starting nine games for the Panthers in 2007, the year Jake Delhomme suffered a season-ending elbow injury. Moore passed for 730 yards with three touchdowns and five interceptions. Certainly, the Cowboys wouldn't have minded playing him instead of Johnson or Brooks Bollinger last season.

The Cowboys tried to slip Moore through waivers, but obviously it didn't work, and Carolina ended up with him.

That was a poor decision. You never, ever sneak a quarterback through waivers if he has any potential at all.

Besides, Romo would also benefit from having a young competitor behind him. He could use a player hungry to prove himself in the NFL instead of an aging player content to be a backup and used only in case of emergency.

It's too easy to get complacent, no matter the line of work, when you have more job security than a Supreme Court judge.

Few and far between

Under owner Jerry Jones, the Cowboys have drafted only four quarterbacks in the 20 years he has owned the club.

Year Rd. Player Comment

2001 2 Quincy Carter Substance-abuse issues ruined career in Dallas

1993 4 Bill Musgrave Six-year career netted one TD pass, two INTs

1989* 1 Steve Walsh 19 starts: 40 TDs and 50 INTs in 12-year career

1989 1 Troy Aikman Hall of Famer won three Super Bowls

*Supplemental pick, forfeiting the Cowboys' own first-round pick in 1990