Cowboys lose little cutting Carter -- but have less left

What a bad news, good news day for the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday.

The bad news was that quarterback Quincy Carter, a 16-game starter last season, was released reportedly for failing a drug test.

The good news? Well, he isn't exactly Troy Aikman.

The Cowboys might need Vinny Testaverde, 40, to start at QB.(AP)

The sudden release of Carter might be a shock considering the timing, three days into training camp and a month out from the regular season. But Carter, despite making strides last season and during this offseason, was never really the answer anyway.

Would the Cowboys have signed Chad Hutchinson, since released, and traded for Drew Henson this year if he was?

The Cowboys were not convinced that Carter was anything more than a stopgap. He was the guy who would hold the seat warm between Aikman and the next great star-wearing quarterback.

This one is on the head of owner/general manager Jerry Jones. He was the one who pushed to use a second-round pick to draft Carter in 2001, a move that was viewed as a major reach. Most scouts had Carter a mid-round choice -- if that.

At least Jones did the right thing here. If Carter has drug problems, and they are chronic, than he should be let go. For Jones to make this move, there has be a major problem. Remember, Jones owned the team back in the days when Michael Irvin, Nate Newton and Erik Williams were getting into all kinds of trouble.

Do the Cowboys now have a zero-tolerance policy? Or did Carter simply go too far? It's more likely the latter because the league's drug policy is more open to recovery than penalty for early offenders.

It's time for Carter to get help, and the Cowboys want no part of waiting around for him to do so. They probably warned him that if there were any more problems, he would be gone.

The Cowboys did everything they could to transform Carter from an erratic run-around, scatter-armed player into a decent NFL passer. And they did, too. I saw his first NFL start in the preseason three years ago against the New Orleans Saints, and he was terrible.

Eventually, he became OK. Was he ever going to be more than that? Not really. As one Cowboys source remarked earlier this year: "He is all we have, really."