Tony Romo: 4 Reasons He Will Not Be with the Dallas Cowboys in 2012

The Dallas Cowboys' season is at a turning point, as is the career of Tony Romo.

It appears that it's now or never for Romo and the Cowboys to turn it around. In their next five games, Dallas has a stretch where they face one team with a winning record.

These upcoming games are important to the Cowboys' playoff hopes as well as Romo's future in Dallas.

Suffering a loss to one of these weaker teams could force the Cowboys to miss the playoffs, while also pushing them to make a change at quarterback.

Romo's future will not be determined because of his play in the next five games, but because of his history of epic mistakes. At some point, Dallas has to realize that Romo will never lead them to a Super Bowl victory.

The upcoming slides will look at several reasons why this season will be Romo's last as the Cowboys starting quarterback.

No. 1 Expectations

Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys fanbase expect their team to consistently contend for a Super Bowl.

This is a franchise that has enjoyed a long history of success and Super Bowl victories.

They have watched quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach enjoy long and successful careers.

The Cowboys nation does not accept failure—they will not accept poor play from their quarterback.

Anything less than a strong playoff run this season will result in the end of the Tony Romo era. The Super Bowl drought has lasted longer than anyone is willing to accept.

Dallas is not playing Super Bowl-caliber football, so it seems like a long shot for them to make a strong late-season run.

No. 2 Embarrassing Mistakes

Tony Romo's career has been a highlight reel of embarrassing mistakes.

He's surrendered late-game leads, botched field-goal holds and thrown countless interceptions. The Dallas Cowboys are a proud organization that does not like to deal with embarrassment.

Dallas will always receive a ton of media attention—this is the team that was once called "America's Team." Good or bad, the Cowboys will always find a way to make headlines.

Recently, those headlines have been more negative than positive.

The entire Tony Romo era has been filled with unflattering headlines. There was the whole Jessica Simpson situation, Romo's golf outings and his big-game meltdowns.

A quarterback should provide more positive than negative headlines.

No. 3 Jerry Jones' Ego

Jerry Jones thinks very highly of himself and his ability to build a winning football team.

He will do whatever is necessary to to produce a winner. This typically results in big-time personnel moves, including trades and free-agent signings.

If Jones has decided that it is time to end the Romo era, he will stop at nothing to bring in another top-notch quarterback.

This includes finding a way to move in the draft to select a top quarterback prospect. In order for Jones to justify moving on from Romo, he has to have a plan to make a big splash.

No. 4 Money

During the offseason, the Dallas Cowboys found themselves up against the salary cap.

They were forced to make some tough roster decisions, cutting loose players like Andre Gurode. The salary issues will not get much better in the upcoming offseason.

These salary cap issues will limit the amount of moves the Cowboys can make to improve this roster.

Dallas could help their salary-cap situation by cutting ties with Tony Romo. They could save a ton of money if they either trade or release their starting quarterback.

Ideally, they would be able to land a young stud in the draft.