Was Romo the Cowboys' best quarterback ever?

After months of suspense, Tony Romo's time with the Dallas Cowboys - and as an NFL player - is finally over.

The 15-year veteran will reportedly opt against continuing his career elsewhere after his impending release, and will instead head to the broadcast booth, where he'll undoubtedly excel.

Related - Report: Tony Romo retiring from football for broadcasting career

While Romo's tenure with the Cowboys didn't go out with the bang he'd likely hoped for, the 36-year-old was one of the most prolific passers the historic franchise has ever seen.

But was he the very best?

We take a look at how Romo stacks up against Dallas' best quarterbacks - Troy Aikman, and Roger Staubach.

Stats

Well, if you put it that way, it's not really even close.

While Romo has always taken criticism for not winning the big one, his consistent statistics are far better than Aikman's or Staubach's, holding a solid lead in yards, touchdowns, and completion percentage despite his 127 starts.

Romo had the advantage of playing in a more pass-friendly era, he finished among the top seven passers in each of the last three seasons that saw him play all 16 games.

While Staubach and Aikman combined for four seasons with at least 20 touchdown passes, Romo has gotten to that number eight times, surpassing 30 passing scores on four occasions.

Wins

Quarterback wins is a long disputed measurement that isn't totally fair to the player, but oftentimes, it's what they are judged on.

Aikman started his career with a 1-15 record and ended on a 5-11 campaign, though the middle of his career saw lots of victories as part of Jerry Jones' super teams.

Staubach's career was all about winning. The Hall of Famer missed the playoffs only once, but still managed a winning 8-6 record in that season, and went to four Super Bowls in eight years.

Since taking over as the starter in 2006, the Cowboys have not had a losing season as long as Romo plays in at least seven games, though he led them to three straight 8-8 campaigns from 2011-2013.

Big-game success

This is the real Achilles' heal to Romo's legacy.

Cowboys fans are used to seeing their quarterbacks take the team all the way to the big game, so Romo's two playoff wins aren't really enough to get Dallas out of its seat. There's really nothing to say to those who are "all about winning."

However, the notion that Romo is bad in the clutch is ridiculous. Only 13 men have ever accomplished more fourth-quarter comebacks in their career than Romo, all of whom are either in the Hall of Fame, will be in the Hall of Fame, or are Vinny Testaverde, who played until he was 44.

Aikman and Staubach will always have superior playoff and Super Bowl records than Romo, but that may have more of a reflection of who they played with than their own talents.

Supporting cast

Romo may not have had as many high-profile teammates as Aikman and Staubach, but he had no shortage of all stars around him.

Not counting the Cowboys who made the 2016 Pro Bowl (since Romo had nothing to do with that), the most recent quarterback in this comparison played with 16 multi-time Pro Bowlers.

DeMarcus Ware and Jason Witten were Romo's most decorated teammates. He also had a steady stream of solid offensive linemen ranging from Flozell Adams and Andre Gurode to Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick.

The one thing that Aikman and Staubach definitely had over Romo is continuity among their teammates as they played in eras less friendly to free agents.

Aikman's teams were defined by "The Triplets," which was formed of himself, Michael Irvin, and all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith, all of whom are Hall of Famers. They also had a stacked set of blockers headlined by multi-time All-Pros Larry Allen, Nate Newton, and Erik Williams.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Smith's presence on Aikman's team was the quarterback's key to success as he was never asked to lead the way through the air and regularly saw light pass coverage against teams afraid to be run over. That, and an all-star defense, made Dallas much more of a conservative, run-first team than Romo's Cowboys.

Staubach also had plenty of stars to play with, enough to coin the "America's Team" tag. Defensive teammates of Staubach - Randy White, Bob Lilly, Chuck Howley, Cliff Harris, Mel Renfro, and Cornell Green - all went to at least five Pro Bowls.

Receiver Drew Pearson was Staubach's only consistent target and he didn't get to play with a Hall of Fame back until the end of his career, sharing the backfield with Tony Dorsett for his final two seasons.

Adding up all the information available about talent level, accomplishments, character, teammates, and whatever else determines the validity of a quarterback, was Romo the best to ever line up under center for the Cowboys?