Cowboys trade for Matt Cassel, place Romo on IR designated to return list:

The Dallas Cowboys placed quarterback Tony Romo on the injured reserve designated to return list, the team announced Tuesday, meaning Romo will be unable to return to the field until Week 11 against the Miami Dolphins at the earliest.

While Brandon Weeden is expected to remain the starter in Dallas during Romo’s absence, the team traded a fifth-round draft pick to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for Matt Cassel and a seventh-round draft pick. Cassel is expected to come in and provide veteran leadership behind Weeden while he gets comfortable with the offense, but the Cowboys likely view him as insurance in case Weeden implodes as well.

For his part, Weeden looked very good in relief of Romo Sunday, completing all seven of his passes, including one touchdown pass.

Weeden may have looked solid on Sunday, but he hasn’t been successful as a starter during his short time in the league. Despite Jerry Jones telling a Dallas radio station that, “you won’t see a more gifted passer” than Weeden, the former first-round pick has thrown 27 touchdowns and 28 picks during his career.

In Cassel, the Cowboys have a veteran quarterback who’s started 72 games in the NFL, versus just 21 for Weeden. If Weeden continues to play anywhere close to as well as he did Sunday in helping the Cowboys hold onto the lead after Romo’s injury, Cassel won’t see the field. Regardless, the Cowboys are happy to have another veteran signal caller until Romo can return later this season.

Regardless of who starts in Dallas in Romo’s, the fact is they won’t be No. 9. The issue in Dallas is whether their starting quarterback will be able to rebound from breaking a collarbone he’s already broken once. His play will likely be right where it was upon his return, but the Cowboys are always going to have to wonder if he can stay healthy long term.

Romo is one of the toughest guys around, and his style of play has always put him at risk for injury. Eventually that’s going to catch up to him, and the risk of him being unable to finish a 16-game schedule will leave Dallas wondering if it’s time to start looking for his successor.

Todd Bowles announces he’s sticking with Fitzpatrick at quarterback:

In what might be one of the least surprising things you’ll hear all day, New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles announced that journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick will remain the Jets’ starter when incumbent starter Geno Smith is ready to return from the broken jaw he suffered at the hands of former teammate IK Enemkpali.

The Jets might be the most improved team in football0 and after a 2-0 start, Bowles isn’t going to start playing around with the chemistry on his football team by switching starters after such a strong start.

“Ryan is the starting quarterback right now,” said Bowles. “I mean, we’re going good. We have good chemistry and everything else. Geno understands that. As we go, Ryan is our starting quarterback, and we’ll go forward from there.”

Fitzpatrick hasn’t been Tom Brady over the first two weeks, but he hasn’t had to be. With the Jets creating 10 turnovers in their first two games, Fitzpatrick just has to be solid, and he been.

The new Jets starter has completed 37 of 58 passes with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Fitzpatrick has only thrown for 423 yards over New York’s first two games, but as long as he keeps the ball moving for this Jets team that’s going to be built on running the football and defense, he’ll continue to start.

Bowles just can’t be sure that Smith will be as steady as Fitzpatrick, and for a team playing the way this team is playing, that’s very important. The first-year head coach also understands the importance of steady quarterback play, and has seen how it and great defense can be a recipe for success during his time in Arizona.

Jimmy Graham unhappy with role in Seattle:

The Seattle Seahawks traded a first-round draft pick and Pro-Bowl center Max Unger to the New Orleans Saints for Jimmy Graham this offseason, but after two games the new Seahawks tight end has one question. Why?

According to Bleacher report’s Mike Freeman, Graham is asking teammates why the team traded for him if they’re going to use him the way that they have.

Graham has been targeted just 10 times over the Seahawks first two games, pulling in seven receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown. For many tight ends that would be a solid start to the season, but that’s not the kind of workload that Graham has grown used to.

Graham was barely targeted on Sunday and finished the game with only a single catch for 11 yards. After the game, the underused tight end hit the streets before addressing the media. While the team probably prefer Graham not speak instead of airing grievances about his role, they likely aren’t happy with him splitting either.

Right now, Graham is on pace to pull in 56 catches for 496 yards. Both numbers would be the lowest totals since his rookie year. During his time in New Orleans, the talented tight end has pulled in at least 85 catches for at least 889 yards every season since his rookie year.

Of course, those projections would assume that the Seahawks don’t find a way to get Graham more involved in the offense. They will, and barring injury, it would be a huge surprise if Graham finished the year with less than 60 receptions.

The real question here is what did he expect? Seattle’s offense is clearly built around the run game, and Russell Wilson is never going to be airing it out the way Drew Brees did in New Orleans. Ultimately this is the guy who wanted to be paid like a receiver, and that likely played a large role in the Saints deciding they couldn’t build a contender and pay Graham.

It may have just been Graham’s salary demands that pushed the Saints to move him, and now that he’s playing a more conventional tight end role, his value is going anywhere but up.