Because all of Jerry Jones' ex's no longer live in Texas.

Terrell Owens is a Cowboy no more. Jones, the Cowboys owner, released the gifted if occasionally troubled wideout who has the second-most career receiving touchdowns in NFL history with 139.

For the Cowboys, the Football decision was a variation on T.O. - a terrible option.

Either that or a total overhaul, which is what this organization probably requires if it is to ever recapture its past glory.

Let's recap this colossally stupid move.

Jones just cut his leading receiver and arguably his team's best offensive weapon, who put up 38 touchdowns in three seasons. (Sorry, Jason Witten doesn't get in the end zone enough, and Roy Williams has not proven he can be a No. 1 receiver.)

Jones listened to the wrong people and, against his better judgment, sent packing a no-brainer Hall of Famer who should be picked up by the New York Giants to replace their other headache receiver, Plaxico Burress. (TO would get to play the Cowboys and Eagles four times a season, and unlike the G-man packing heat, Owens isn't facing a suspension by the league or jail time.)

If Owens was a big problem for Dallas, he was problem No. 8. Or lower.

There are so many other things wrong with the Cowboys that any annoying distraction Owens brought to the locker room should fall way down the list of the reasons Dallas hasn't won a playoff game since 1996.

Here are the Cowboys' four biggest problem areas:

General manager.

Head coach.

Quarterback.

Offensive coordinator.

And those are just for starters.

If Owens was, indeed, his team's biggest shortcoming, blame it on the owner/GM who brought him to Dallas three years ago and who clung to him until his son and others wore down Jones' resistance. Jerry's idea of fixing all of his team's woes? Instituting a gag order.

At the very least, he should have cut T.O. much earlier and gotten in on the sweepstakes to bring in T.J. Houshmandzadeh or even Laveranues Coles. How about hiring a real GM, Jerry?

Jones also should have fired Wade Phillips in midseason after the debacle last October in St. Louis. Phillips is a top-notch defensive coordinator and a great guy, but he's no leader of men. Hire Bill Cowher, Mike Holmgren or Mike Shanahan immediately, maybe sooner.

Perhaps Tony Romo is just a quarterback out of Eastern Illinois after all. He has great talent and an infectious personality, but he's not a leader and he doesn't have the burn in his gut that Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach had. Give Romo one more year to get it done before you start looking for a replacement. Rookies Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco have already shown more promise than Romo.

It's as if he's too satisfied with being the quarterback of America's Team, being rich and having Jessica Simpson as a girlfriend. When he aw-shucked at the news conference after the 44-6 loss to the Eagles - one of the worst and most inexcusable defeats in franchise history - his reaction should have sent shudders throughout the organization.

Jason Garrett has done nothing, in his play-calling or his use of receiver Roy Williams to prove he'll be a great NFL head coach. If it were my team, I'd have promoted Garrett to Phillips' job after the Rams loss and given him half a season to earn the position permanently because you can't hire from outside in the middle of a season.

Somewhere down the list of problems comes Owens' tongue-wagging, which has always been overstated.

He plays hurt. He works hard. He wants the ball more than Keyshawn Johnson. He wants to win. He is a standup guy in the locker room after losses.

And, yes, he's an egomaniac, one of dozens in that league.

How disruptive was Anquan Boldin, who aimed a sideline outburst toward Arizona's offensive coordinator during the playoffs? The Cardinals still made the Super Bowl.

Has Randy Moss taken down the New England Patriots, the NFL's model franchise for this decade? Don't think so. With Moss on the roster, the Pats almost were perfect in 2007 and may have been the best team in the league at the end of the 2008 season before just missing the playoffs.

And didn't Santonio Holmes talk before the Super Bowl about how he sold drugs in Belle Glade, Fla., as a teen? He's also been suspended twice by his coach since joining the Steelers. Oh, yeah, he was the Super Bowl MVP, too.

This is the NFL, not Sunday school.

With Owens gone, the Cowboys will have to find a passing game from Williams, Patrick Crayton, Sam Hurd and Miles Austin when defenses double-cover Witten every down. Yikes.

As we said, George Strait may have to rethink those lyrics. Texas may be a place that TO would dearly love to be, but at this rate, he just might want to hang his hat in Tennessee.

Or New York or Chicago or Minnesota or "

kbohls@statesman.com; 445-3772