OXNARD, California — Jerry Jones took little longer than four minutes to respond to a question about football on Thursday. The general manager and owner of the team used the word “ambiguity” seven times throughout that time.
“We’ve got a lot of ambiguity in the team,” Jones said. “I have ambiguity everywhere in the things I look at, and do. Maybe the best thing that God gave me was a tolerance for ambiguity.”
The Dallas Cowboys’ 45-minute state of the union news conference was appropriately hinted at by the emphasis on ambiguity.
Among other things, Jones was questioned about his general style of managing the company and high-profile contract discussions. The conversation lacked optimism, which is to be expected given that the Cowboys are one of the few teams (there are only two in the NFC) that have not played in a conference championship game since Bill Clinton’s first term as president ended.
“Believe it or not, it feels good to sit here and get grilled by you guys,” Jones said, with a smile. “I really mean what I’m trying to say. You really think it really bothers me (to receive) this criticism? I hope you don’t … it’s actually fun.”
With that being the case, let’s have some fun dissecting key moments.
‘I’m good with math’
There was a lot of discussion about the salary cap because the contracts of Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and, to a lesser extent, Micah Parsons, were in jeopardy.
“I will say this, if I’m anything, I want to say to our fans, I’m good with math,” Jones said. “I’m very good, and I can stretch a dollar, because I can put a lot of energy, juice, and bull—- with it. I maximize what we’ve got to work with, I like to think, as well as anybody in sports.”
When it comes to the NFL’s pay cap, there are specific figures to take into account. In a follow-up response, Jones stated that if Prescott, Lamb, and Parsons were to receive the money they seek, those three individuals might end up with “70 percent of all of the money you have acquired, 70 percent of the payroll.” Jones’ response continued, and the number increased.
“Add it up and you’ll see anywhere from 70 to 80 percent of your whole payroll there,” Jones said.
Moments later, Jones said, “… spending on those three players 75 percent of your money, that’s a challenge.”
Naturally, it is not the current problem. Right now, the NFL salary cap is at $255 million. Seventy percent would be approximately $179 million, seventy-five percent would be approximately $192 million, and eighty percent would exceed $204 million. It would be as though the Cowboys were paying three franchise quarterbacks top-of-the-market quarterback money, which is certainly not the case, even at the lowest end of Jones’ math.
Despite previous and potential dead cap hits, the Cowboys would not even use half of the budget if Prescott, Lamb, and Parsons were paid top market salaries. Hyperbolic ideas of cap space are not among the reasons for why these deals are not happening, though Prescott’s lack of big-game performance is one.
To drive home the point, here’s a tidbit from our friends at Over The Cap:
#Cowboys COO Stephen Jones says a team like the #Vikings aren’t paying a QB or “anyone on the roster at this point,” which makes it easier for them to pay Justin Jefferson $35M per year.
pic.twitter.com/0z2Uwpfcbn https://t.co/o5baVmNdMy
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 25, 2024
‘Highest rate of renewal on season tickets’
In terms of football, the Cowboys’ front office and team ownership overlap; these are two very separate roles with disparate success metrics. For the past 28 years, the Cowboys have struggled on the field, but off the field, they have been the world’s most successful club. It does not seem like the off-field success is waning, despite low morale among the devoted fan base.
“We had our highest rate of renewal that we’ve ever had on season tickets,” Stephen Jones said.
“And the fastest it’s ever happened in the league, in the NFL,” Jerry Jones chimed in. “Excuse me, Stephen.”
“Now, there’s no one more frustrated than we are,” Stephen Jones continued. “At the end of the day, this is all about, as Jerry said, that last game. It’s our postseason success. No one is more frustrated than we are, and they wouldn’t be great fans if they weren’t frustrated with the success we’ve had in the postseason. It’s duly respected, in terms of what their frustration is. The good news is, you don’t want them not to care, and they do care.”
There are several ways that season ticket sales success can be shown. The Jones family would want to fill AT&T Stadium with Dallas supporters, but their wallets get heavier anyway. Cowboys supporters might purchase them and resell them to supporters of the rival team.
Jerry Jones frequently expresses his desire to win another Super Bowl. He said on Thursday that, in the event that another Lombardi Trophy could be obtained, he would write a check for it. However, Jerry Jones still has those three 1990s medals as a safety net, and in 2024 business is booming.
“Give me some credit, OK?” Jones said. “Y’all think I’m good with numbers? You think I know how to add and subtract? Do I know how to talk? Sell? All of that kind of stuff? That is at play.
“Now, I really realize all of the criticism, and I understand it. I always understood. As a matter of fact, if you think about it, I try to stir it up, and have, since I got here. That’s good. Be relevant. It works.”
Jerry Jones says the current Cowboys have 14 Pro Bowlers and 12 All-Pros: “We have an outstanding team.” pic.twitter.com/6BGXctlWmM
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) July 25, 2024
The speed option
History lectures, about the founding of the salary-cap period or stories from the days he was supposed to buy the Cowboys (which happened again Thursday), are a regular feature of Jerry Jones news conferences. Jones is also drawing an analogy in which he acts as a player.
“I have, in my life, played option quarterback so many times and wait until the last leaf on the tree (falls),” Jones said. “If you want to picture a pure option quarterback going out to the sideline, I have run that ball and kept it and not handed it off to the back, not pitch it back, not throw it. I have run that thing all the way out to the sideline before I made the decision because I couldn’t get whatever it took. It wasn’t right for me to make the decision.
“What our fans, what you’re seeing, what we deal with is we’re buying time. We’re option quarterbacking. We’re going on out towards the sideline and we haven’t handed it off, we haven’t pitched it. We’re trying to make our mind up what to do. Does that sound like (Patrick) Mahomes to you, a little bit? It do. It really do.”
It doesn’t, in fact, since Mahomes is not an option quarterback. Aside from that, Jones’ reaction addressed the subject of how long it will take to reach an agreement with Lamb, particularly in light of the fact that Justin Jefferson’s contract with Minnesota was signed weeks ago. Jones stated at the time that he wished for greater leaf fall. It may be argued that Jefferson’s agreement was the final one.
Although Jones’ analogy makes logic, the defender is closing in and the sideline is getting closer overall. Before the quarterback goes out of bounds, decisions must be made.
The coach’s contract
In 2024, when Prescott’s contract is up for renewal, and Lamb’s holdout garner most of the attention throughout training, but head coach Mike McCarthy is also fighting for his job. Had the previous season’s playoffs been different, would McCarthy have received an extension?
“Green Bay?” Jones said, referencing the Cowboys’ wild-card demolition at the hands of the Packers. “I don’t know.”
Jones quickly walked back his quip.
“Listen, that’s not fair,” Jones said. “Mike has shown me that I want to have him and he’s qualified and he’s excellent and the players are excellent and he’s shown me that he could be our coach for years to come. He sits next to me in the draft. I really call on him a lot. If you can’t get along with Mike McCarthy, you can’t get along.”
Jones was somewhat correct in his first remark. The Cowboys’ humiliating first-round loss to the Packers in the previous season caused a delay in making a decision regarding the head coach position. In addition to the Super Bowl ring from Green Bay, McCarthy has a string of successful regular seasons under his belt in Dallas. However, the Cowboys’ performance this season will have a big impact on McCarthy’s future in Dallas.
(Photo: Brandon Sloter / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
