And Romo believes the Cowboys, fresh off of signing the biggest free-agent class of Jerry Jones' ownership tenure, have taken significant steps to put the team in position to contend after missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Jones, also the team's general manager, considered the Cowboys to be contenders last season until they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants in the New Year's Day season finale with the NFC East title at stake.

"It's about time that we go to that next step and I think our team is going to be ready for that," Romo said during a Thursday appearance on ESPN Dallas 103.3's "Ben and Skin Show."

Romo, a three-time Pro Bowler, had arguably the best individual season of his career last year, throwing for 4,184 yards and 31 touchdowns despite playing several weeks with broken ribs. However, the Cowboys crumbled down the stretch after putting themselves in the driver's seat of the division, losing four of their final five games, including two losses to the Giants.

Romo, whose wife, Candice, gave birth to the couple's first child on Monday, said he doesn't spend any time thinking about regrets.

"It's all going forward," Romo said. "I mean, to be good or great at what you're trying to do athletically or in sports, you've got to have a singular focus about what matters. That's good and bad. Whether something great's just happened, you have to put that behind you and just move on, because you have to go do it again. Something bad happens, you have to learn from it, put it behind you, get better from it and then move right on. I think that's our approach.

"When I look at just myself, it's about how can I improve? How can I get better? How can I bring my teammates along with me? How can they get better and our football team can take that next step? We're doing some things that I think will allow us to do that. I feel good about some of the stuff that we've got going on. I think we're going to be an improved football team next year."

Romo, who turns 32 this month, is in some ways one of the NFL's great success stories. He was an undrafted free agent out of Division I-AA Eastern Illinois who established himself as the franchise quarterback for one of the highest-profile teams in sports, following in the footsteps of Hall of Famers Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman.