Seeking to make sure that doesn't happen again, the Cowboys traded for Detroit's Jon Kitna on Saturday to be Romo's backup. The move cost Dallas starting cornerback Anthony Henry, creating some depth issues in the secondary.

The trade reunites Kitna with former Lions teammate Roy Williams, who made the Pro Bowl following the 2006 season when he caught 82 passes for 1,310 yards and seven touchdowns.

"If anything happens to Romo - God forbid that it does - he will be a good fit," Williams said.

The trade saves a little more than $1.5 million against the salary cap, with Kitna agreeing to restructure his contract. Kitna was scheduled to earn a $1 million roster bonus Tuesday on top of a $3 million base salary in 2009. Henry was scheduled to earn $3.6 million this year ($2.6 million in base salary, $1 million in a roster bonus).

Henry started every game in 2008 but had only one interception and a career-low seven pass deflections. The Cowboys were considering moving Henry full time to safety in 2009, and they like the potential of cornerbacks Orlando Scandrick and Mike Jenkins as starters. The Cowboys have made safety Roy Williams available for a possible trade, but he probably will be released if the Cowboys can't find a suitor.

The Cowboys had some interest in unrestricted free agent Kyle Boller when the market opened Friday but opted for Kitna as the replacement for Brad Johnson, who was released last week.

Kitna, who turns 37 in September, has thrown for 27,293 yards with 152 touchdowns and 151 interceptions in 12 seasons with Seattle, Cincinnati and Detroit. He started every game he played for the Lions but was limited to four games last season before he was put on injured reserve with a back injury.

Prior to joining the Lions, he spent five seasons with the Bengals.

Henry, 32, started 52 of 57 games in four seasons with the Cowboys and had 12 interceptions. He returned two of them for touchdowns and was a solid influence in the locker room.

Staff writer Calvin Watkins contributed to this report.

IN THE KNOW Jon Kitna

Born: Sept. 21, 1972

Hometown: Tacoma, Wash.

College: Central Washington

Notable: Started four games last season before losing his job. He completed 56.7 percent of his passes for 758 yards, with five TDs and five INTs.... In 2006 and 2007 Kitna threw for 8,276 yards but had 39 touchdowns and 42 interceptions for the Lions.

Jon Kitna CAREER STATISTICS

Yr Team G Cmp Att Yds TD Int Rate

08 Det. 4 68 120 758 5 5 72.2

07 Det. 16 355 561 4,068 18 20 80.9

06 Det. 16 372 596 4,208 21 22 79.9

05 Cin. 3 17 29 99 0 2 36.4

04 Cin. 4 61 104 623 5 4 75.9

03 Cin. 16 324 520 3,591 26 15 87.4

02 Cin. 14 294 473 3,178 16 16 79.1

01 Cin. 16 313 581 3,216 12 22 61.1

00 Sea. 15 259 418 2,658 18 19 75.6

99 Sea. 15 270 495 3,346 23 16 77.7

98 Sea. 6 98 172 1,177 7 8 72.3

97 Sea. 3 31 45 371 1 2 82.7

Totals 128 2,462 4,114 27,293 152 151 76.6

LISTEN TO AUDIO of Jon Kitna?s inflammatory interview about the Cowboys defense after he passed for four TDs at Texas Stadium in

2006. dallasnews.com/sports