THE Dallas Cowboys seem like an operation run on ego – a trait that the team’s owner, president, and, yes, general manager Jerry Jones knows all too well about.
America’s team has been built on a winning history and, for a while now, also arrogance, and the players understand that – which is why, almost every time, they want to play the 81-year-old’s game.
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The now-multi-billionaire Jones has been the Cowboys’ owner, president, and general manager since 1989 and he restored the team’s winning tradition in the 1990s, winning three Super Bowls during the decade and helping them eventually become the most valuable franchise in all of sports.
However, Dallas has only four playoff wins along with no NFC Championship appearances since 2000, and most franchises would make changes to correct the lack of playoff success.
But not the Cowboys, and most importantly, not Jones, who recently made it clear that he will be the team’s general manager for the foreseeable future and has no desire to step down from the role.
“I’ve done it all. So I have an ordinate amount of confidence that f***, if anybody can figure out how to get this s*** done, I can figure out how to get it done,” Jones said in an interview with Cowboys beat writer Clarence Hill Jr. on August 26.
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“I’ve been there every which way from Sunday, and have I busted my ass a bunch, a bunch.
“And there’s nobody living that’s out cutting and shooting that can’t give you a bunch of times they busted their ass.
“So hell no, there’s nobody that could f***ing come in here and do all the contracts … and be a GM any better than I can.”
Jones made the comments after his seemingly public feuds with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb – both who were in contractual limbo at the time.
The two star Pro Bowlers have since received contract extensions, but it took having public fallouts in order for their futures to be secured.
On August 29, Jones told reporters that he wasn’t in a rush to hand the soon-to-be free-agent Prescott a deal, saying, “I quit a long time ago getting bent out of shape about having anybody under contract or not.
“There are all kinds of things other than a contract that could change the outcome of him being under contract: injury, level of play.”
“So you can’t just pick that and say that should give you a better feeling about our team or me a better feeling. The whole thing has a lot of moving parts. Now, I can live with that … because we play a game that it can change on the next play.”
The next day, the 2023 second-team All-Pro Prescott responded to Jones.
“I stopped, honestly, listening to things (Jones) says to the media a long time ago. It doesn’t really hold weight with me,” Prescott said, per The Athletic’s Jon Machota.
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Earlier in August, Jones said the Cowboys had no urgency to sign Lamb.
The 2020 first-round pick Lamb responded, writing “lol” to the comment on X.
The 2023 First-team All-Pro then removed “America’s Team” from his social media page’s bio.
Cowboys fans were also subject to not only the contract drama but also hardly any additions in the offseason to the 2023 division-winning team who lost in a devastating playoff upset to the Green Bay Packers in last year’s Divisional Round.
Lamb eventually signed a four-year, $136 million deal to stay with the Cowboys through 2028.
It’s the second-largest contract paid to a wide receiver.
And, literally hours before Week 1 versus the Cleveland Browns, Prescott signed a four-year, $240 million contract, the most money given to a player in NFL history.
Still, the paths to reach agreements were unprecedented, and the two Cowboys’ offensive players wouldn’t budge until their needs were met in a salary-capped league that will also be physically demanding.
Remember, Prescott suffered a gruesome season-ending knee injury in 2020.
Of course, Jones gathers info to make decisions from a team of front office members, including his son Stephen Jones – the executive vice president CEO, director of player personnel, and veteran head coach Mike McCarthy.
But a report came in June that McCarthy, who is in the final year of his contract, is getting “fed up” with Jones undermining him.
Any Cowboys fan can believe that the contract feuds with Lamb and Prescott could happen with star pass rusher Micah Parsons, who is in the final year of his rookie contract.
The Cowboys have still secured their homegrown talent in Prescott and Lamb, and the three-time Pro Bowler Parsons seems to want to stay in Dallas.
However, while Jones’ has inked extensions to two of those players, he has also given out questionable extensions in the past, including to three-time Pro Bowler running back Ezekiel Elliott in 2019.
His $90 million contract extension played a role in Dallas trading star wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns in 2022 – and the franchise hasn’t had a wide receiver as talented next to Lamb ever since.
Still, the Cowboys impressed in their Week 1 game versus the Cleveland Browns, beating them 33-17 on the road as a road underdog.
But the Dallas squad disappointed mightily over the weekend, losing 44-19 to the New Orleans Saints, who saw star running back Alvin Kamara rush for 115 yards on 20 carries and score a total of four touchdowns.
It didn’t help that Pro Bowl corner Da’Ron Bland is on injured reserve and the franchise, which ranked top five in defense last year, is without former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who is the Washington Commanders head coach.
And Cowboys’ offense struggled to protect Prescott, who threw one touchdown and two interceptions, the run game was non-existent, and the team missed the services of the injured tight end Jake Ferguson.
The season is still young but the franchise’s offseason drama concerning contract talk and lack of free agent moves can now turn into regular season losing drama.
Seven of their next eight opponents made the playoffs in 2023.
But one thing’s for sure: Don’t expect Jerry World to be anyone else’s world any time soon.
