General manager of the team that he acquired for the sum of 140 million in 1989, billionaire Jerry Jones, at the age of 82, remains one of the most influential men in the world of the NFL.
At the time of the purchase, the Cowboys were losing $1 million a month. A little over 35 years later, he transformed them into the most valuable franchise on the circuit with an estimate of 11 billion. In 2023 alone, the Cowboys generated profits of 1.2 billion.
To give an idea of their financial impact, the Los Angeles Rams took 2nd place in the NFL in this regard with an amount of 400 million. It’s simply mind-blowing and puts into perspective the magnitude of what the Cowboys represent in the mighty state of Texas.
For these reasons alone, we must bow low to the vision of Jones who played his cards admirably to achieve all this. He earned his place in the Football Hall of Fame. Period.
Winners become losers
However, much like the Toronto Maple Leafs, a money-printing machine in the National Hockey League (NHL), the Cowboys have risen to the sad echelon of losing traditions after some very good years.
When Jones debuted, he quickly fired icon Tom Landry, the organization’s only coach until 1989, and turned to head coach Jimmy Johnson. Together, the Jones-Johnson pair built a dynasty in the early 1990s, winning the Super Bowl three times in the space of four years (1992, 1993 and 1995 seasons). Dallas was then led by the devastating trio of quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith and receiver Michael Irvin.
Since the last championship won by this dynasty, the Cowboys boast four small playoff victories in the space of three decades. For an organization with gargantuan financial resources and vast ambitions, this is simply insufficient.
Yes, Dallas has had a few good seasons during this period, but each playoff run it has qualified for has had more disappointments than celebrations. The example of the last three campaigns, where the team delivered very solid records of 12 wins and five losses, speaks for itself. Despite all the success experienced during the season, the Cowboys only signed a meager gain, thus extending their drought without appearing in the National final to 28 years.
A situation on the ground in disarray
If bitter conclusions have become customary among the Cowboys, it should however be noted that the current state of the club is at a frankly worrying level. And it’s not just because quarterback Dak Prescott is out for the rest of the year with a partially torn hamstring.
Before Prescott headed to the infirmary, Dallas was already showing worrying signs as it posted a record of three wins and five losses. The thaws at the expense of the New Orleans Saints (44 to 19) and the Detroit Lions (47 to 9) initially sounded the alarm and demonstrated that the loss of defensive defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who left as head coach at the Commanders of Washington, was immense.
Now that Cooper Rush has taken over from Prescott, the club has added two more losses to its record, so the team finds itself in the bottom seven in the overall NFL standings.
Bad seasons can of course happen. On the other hand, where Jones failed royally was because of the work he did on the sidelines of the 2024 campaign when he made a series of poor decisions.
At first, he let the contract extension file with his quarterback Dak Prescott drag on, finally leading to an agreement worth 240 million over four years, or 60 million per year, a record in the history of the NFL. Yes, Prescott is a good passer who has proven himself in the regular season in the NFL, but from there to giving him 231 million guaranteed? Never in life!
Prescott will have an impact on payroll of 89 million in 2025, that’s 23 more than Patrick Mahomes with the Kansas City Chiefs. What did he do to deserve so much? To ask the question is to answer it. No, the contracts were not signed at the same time, but the state of the market does not justify such a difference in favor of Prescott.
Then there were the complicated negotiations with star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. Much like with Prescott, the talks dragged on and Lamb refused to report to camp in protest. Fortunately, the two clans found common ground towards the end of August, i.e. four years for an amount of 136 million.
The issue here isn’t salary, because Lamb is one of the best receivers in the NFL and deserves to be paid that much. The concern is that the matter has been unnecessarily complicated and has created a major distraction in Cowboys country.
The relationship in negotiations is not the same when it is the owner himself who debates contracts as general manager… That adds a degree of difficulty.
Beyond these tumultuous negotiations, there are the choices that were made for the construction of the 2024 roster. There were several points to correct and Jones hardly resolved any of them.
Improve the depth of the receiver group behind Lamb? Nothing.
Making sure you have solid running backs after Tony Pollard leaves? He brought back an ineffective Ezekiel Elliott at the end of his rope.
Improve the tertiary defensively? Nothing.
Still, it’s not like the Cowboys are stuck under the salary cap. At the start of the 2024 campaign, they had 65 million available. Yes, Prescott and Lamb’s extensions take effect in 2025 and we have to think about star linebacker Micah Parsons’ next contract, but there were resources to help the Cowboys immediately. Jones made the choice not to take advantage of it and his team paid the price with a miserable year.
Considering the lack of playoff success since 1995 and the atrocious 2024 off-season, there would be grounds to fire a general manager who is not the owner. Several were for much less than that.
Will Jones realize that he is no longer the right man to run football operations?
