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IRVING, Texas - Troy Aikman didn't reach the Hall of Fame on the strength of his throwing arm alone. He had an accomplished wingman in Michael Irvin. Every good quarterback needs one.
Tony Romo lost his last month when the Cowboys released Terrell Owens. That's why Aikman believes Owens' heir apparent, Roy Williams, is the "real key" to the team's fortunes in 2009.
"This is an offense that defensive coordinators will look at and feel that it will be easier to defense now that Terrell Owens is not on the field than when he was on the field," Aikman said at a Tuesday press conference announcing a five-year partnership between the Cowboys and Wingstop. "So it's up to Miles Austin, it's up to Roy Williams and Jason Witten and others to pick up the slack."
Particularly Williams, who caught just 19 passes for 198 yards and one touchdowns in 10 games after the Cowboys traded a 2009 first- and third-round pick to the Lions for the 27-year-old wideout last October (the teams also swapped a pair of late-round selections).
Williams has been a lead receiver before, having made the Pro Bowl with Detroit in 2006. Now Williams inherits Owens' role and will be asked to replace much of his production from last season - 69 catches for a team-high 1,052 yards and 10 touchdowns.
"Well, he better," Aikman said. "I don't think you can give up what the Cowboys gave up for somebody and not make that a sure bet. This isn't like drafting a No. 1 receiver out of the college draft and then saying, 'Well, we think he's got all the skills to be a great player for us.' He's been in the NFL, he's caught balls in the NFL, you've got a lot of tape on him. You had the ability to talk to a lot of people who had coached him, who had coached against him, who had played against him, played with him.
"I think this would be - if Roy Williams doesn't turn out to be the player they thought he would be when they made the trade, I think this would be one of the biggest busts in the history of the league."
That said, Aikman believes the Cowboys should get better by subtraction, indicating the persistent drama surrounding Owens was ultimately detrimental to the team. A healthy Felix Jones rejoining a mostly intact starting lineup should keep the Cowboys competitive next season, he says.
"I still think they're an extremely talented football team," Aikman said. "I've talked to people around the league (and) they would agree. I think defensively they still have good players; offensively they still have good players. The tendency is for everybody locally when they're following their team to talk about what they don't have, but all teams are like that.
"Are there some pieces that maybe they could take that would make them better? Yeah, I think that there is. But they also have as many weapons and as many dynamic players as any team in the league."
Wing Men
While still quarterbacking the Cowboys, Aikman remembers driving across the street to Wingstop and enjoying some post-practice wings with his teammates.
"It became a Thursday night ritual and we'd come over here and spend a little bit of time," said Aikman, Wingstop's national spokesman since 2003. "I've really not been more excited about being involved with a company because I believe in it so much."
The Cowboys on Tuesday announced a five-year partnership with Wingstop, a Dallas-based chain with more than 650 locations in 29 states. The company also announced its first international brand extension to Mexico.
Wingstop products, now the official wings of the Cowboys, will be available at the team's new $1.1 billion stadium in Arlington, Texas.
"This was a huge step in the direction that we wanted to go in as far as what we thought our fan experience at the new stadium would be," said Jerry Jones Jr., the Cowboys' executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer. "Having Buffalo wings along with football, those synergies make a lot of sense."
Tank to Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday reached an agreement with free-agent defensive tackle Tank Johnson, who had 22 tackles and one sack for the Cowboys last season behind Pro Bowl starter Jay Ratliff.
A move to Cincinnati will place Johnson back in a 4-3 defense, the system in which he thrived before the Chicago Bears released him in 2007.
Junior Siavii, a college teammate of new Cowboys defensive end Igor Olshansky, and Tim Anderson, a former third-round pick, are candidates to back up Ratliff.
The Bengals also have worked out but did not sign former Cowboys safety Roy Williams.
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Rob Phillips - 
