Jerry Jones Must Let Go Of His Old Ways If The Cowboys Are To Win
When now-Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones bought the team in 1989, one thing was clear. He wanted to win. Enlightened by quick success, winning Super Bowls XXVII, XXVIII, and XXX– in 1992, 1993, and 1995 respectively, Jones’ status as the kingpin of America’s Team skyrocketed him as a face of the league.
Long standing as a member of the Mt. Rushmore of football executives, Jones began to take helm. Toting his background as a steel-haired, genial oil magnate with plenty of Texas-twang, his acquisition of the Dallas Cowboys seemed like a match made in Lone Star heaven. Gone are the glory days of Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin. Ushered in through the turn of the century, the turn of the decade, and up until today was Jones’ insistence to run it all. Listed as the owner, team president, and the general manager– one man can only hold so many hats. In Jones’ case, it’s a 15-gallon Stetson.
For most teams, the face of the franchise is the sturdy man under center– the quarterback who takes up most of the media’s hours and the spotlight. In Dallas, it’s Jones. His purview spans across most of the organizations daily operations and their team composition– signing, drafting, and cutting anyone him and the staff see fit. The buck stops with Jerry… whether you like it or not.
With Jones’ unchecked power, he solely holds the reins to contracts, two of which have landed him and the rest of the team in hot water and have backed negotiations into a dimly lit corner. Star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb has held out of training camp with contract talks stalled and the team has miscalculated its options with its starting quarterback Dak Prescott.
Rumors fear Lamb holding out for an extended period of time while players close to the team are hopeful that he will be back for the start of the regular season. Either way, it’s Jones’ reluctance to pay Lamb his due share that has gotten the team into this situation.
Holdouts are impeding for both sides and are usually a last resort. No player wants to hold out and are a PR disaster for the team. But, just like any strike, they are the result of months, if not years of slow progress on negotiations and the want to be heard. Jones’ stonewall demeanor and his robber-baron attitude have done nothing to push the result in a different path.
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“I understand completely the angst that’s happening when you’re anxious about and someone says anything about whether you’re missed or not. Well, CeeDee, you’re missed, OK?” Jones said on the Cowboys’ pregame show prior to their preseason opener. “But you’re not missed out here competing, and it doesn’t put any pressure any place on us.”
That doesn’t sound very reassuring or in any hurry to get a deal done before, but that’s just Jones. Prior to the quote, Jones issued a statement on X stating that he wasn’t in any rush to get the deal done, to which Lamb quipped, “OK?”.
Lamb’s been one of the best receivers in the league since his rookie year in 2020 and been one of the Cowboys’ most valuable assets on the offensive side. His presence consistently adds the most receiving EPA out of any receiver this season and has been the stalwart of a high-powered Dallas offense. Jones choosing to put his contract on the backburner has led to a wedge being drawn between the two parties as no deal seems to be on the horizon.
Lamb is number five in catch rate over expected at 10.3%, first in yards after the catch with 703, and fifth in completed yards per route. These stats should make him a consummate high roller in the NFL– worthy of the highest-paid receiver in the league, the deal he’s supposedly looking for.
On the other side of the spectrum is Dak Prescott who’s also seeking a new deal. Jones has held onto the ball too long clutching his pearls as the quarterback market continues to explode. With common sense, it would be reasonable to make a deal as soon as possible as the market shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. However, Jones refuses to accept well-known truths and has allowed less-accomplished passers to keep resetting the market such as Trevor Lawrence and Jordan Love.
This has dug Jones into a bigger and bigger hole, leading to an inevitable clash with Prescott’s wants as the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.
For the past two decades, the Cowboys have always made strong runs in the regular season, but have failed to get past the hump in the postseason, not making it past the second round. This, juxtaposed with the dynamic nature of the sport in modern times compared to Jones’ heyday leads me to believe that the Cowboys are better off without Jones.
Jones has been a stain on the Dallas Cowboys for quite some time, and if he is to win anything past the Divisional Round of the playoffs again– he must let go of his conservative ways and push to become a much more moderate general manager. One who understands the flows of the market, rather than ignoring them and covering his eyes.
