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By Calvin Watkins 6h ago
PHOENIX — Jerry Jones hears the concerns. He understands why the diehards, and maybe the casual fans, expect this offseason to look more productive than what it has been.
But the Cowboys’ owner and general manager disagrees with the assessment that everything has been a failure this offseason.
Jones spoke to the local beat writers for 20 minutes Monday afternoon from the NFL owners meetings, dismissing the narrative that the Cowboys’ offseason moves are not pushing the team toward a championship season.
Jones believes the Cowboys have a championship team right now and the moves they’ve made — and haven’t made — are beneficial for the long term.
“I don’t think that we’ve done anything that certainly hasn’t improved our chances to win now,” Jones said. “You might hear somebody say, ‘Well, you haven’t done some things that would’ve improved your chances to win now.’ I take exception to that, because some of the things we’ve done are going to allow us to do some things with the players we’ve got that is within that ‘win now’ timeframe — the next two or three years.”
The Cowboys haven’t been a splashy team in free agency despite the national perspective that they’ve been that way for years. It’s easy to link top free agents to the Cowboys. This year, Earl Thomas fit that narrative perfectly. In reality, the Cowboys were never going to pay him top dollar.
To say the Cowboys have gone soft or cheap is dismissing the core of their roster and their plans for it.
Jerry Jones says the Cowboys have a two- or three-year window to win a championship.
Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence was franchised for $20.5 million and hasn’t signed the contract yet. The Cowboys are hopeful a deal with Lawrence can get concluded so he’ll report to training camp in late July. The sides are far apart, with one source saying Lawrence’s side keeps raising his price.
Lawrence is part of the Cowboys’ future, as is quarterback Dak Prescott. The objective is to extend Prescott this summer, and the sides held preliminary talks toward that end. Wide receiver Amari Cooper is next on the list, and the Cowboys are confident something will get done with his agents this summer, too.
Cornerback Byron Jones and running back Ezekiel Elliott have to wait in line until those three are secure. It might anger their agents, but the Cowboys know they have the running back under control for three more seasons. Jones has one year remaining on his contract, and the Cowboys don’t believe the deal to keep him will be too extravagant.
Given all that, it’s easy to understand why Jones feels his team is positioned well. He doesn’t need a quarterback, a running back, a No. 1 wide receiver, a pass rusher or a top corner. The offensive line has three All-Pros, including center Travis Frederick, who is set to return. Jones’ inside linebackers, Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch, are rising players. You can’t have stars at every position; it’s not realistic.
The Cowboys needed upgrades at safety, but they elected not to chase after Thomas. Despite a visit with former Chief Eric Berry, a cheaper route was found in George Iloka. The Cowboys were impressed with his ability to play both the free and strong safety positions. Iloka will line up as a strong safety to create competition with Jeff Heath. Iloka isn’t Thomas. He isn’t Berry. But he is somebody who will make the smart play, according to team officials. They believe he’s a better cover man than Heath and athletic enough to make tackles in open space. Xavier Woods will continue as the free safety, and his progression in the last month and half of last season gives the Cowboys confidence he can maintain his starting role.
Things get tricky with the defensive line. Defensive end Randy Gregory is suspended, and his request for reinstatement doesn’t appear anywhere close to occurring. Dallas met with the Dolphins’ Robert Quinn last week, and those conversations were considered good. Team officials don’t want to pay Quinn $11.1 million in 2019, so the Dolphins would have to pick up a majority of that salary. Quinn also wants a contract extension, something that could occur depending on the financial terms. Talks with Quinn are ongoing.
Dallas created some depth along the defensive line by signing Christian Covington and Kerry Hyder, two interior linemen, in free agency. Hyder can play end and defensive tackle, which gives the Cowboys position flexibility. Adding another pass rusher remains on the team’s list of things to do this offseason. Outside of the upgrades at safety and defensive line, the Cowboys’ signing of Randall Cobb to a one-year deal as Cole Beasley’s replacement as the slot receiver filled another hole. Dallas wasn’t trying to take care of Beasley and his demands of $20 million guaranteed. Instead, they wanted a reasonable contract, which they got in Cobb’s $5 million deal.
Coach Jason Garrett coveted Cobb because he makes plays from the slot as well as outside. Jerry Jones said one of the biggest changes the Cowboys will make this offseason is running more routes similar to those of the Green Bay Packers. That suits Cobb, who played his first eight seasons with Green Bay.
There are more signings and possibly trades to come. In the meantime, the Cowboys take the position that their roster is good right now and that it’s foolish to throw around free-agent dollars.
“And so I disagree that the way we’ve done free agency — we’ve avoided, at this point, the big commitment — that is a ‘win now,’” Jones said. “Because that’s going to have been necessary so we can, in most cases, keep the guys we want to keep and possibly be ready for a player – again, I don’t want to talk about a player that’s on another team, if you see what I mean. But that has us ready to take advantage of that when we see it.”
Jones has said he’s desperate to win a championship because time is running out on him given his age, 76, and the emotions affiliated with a Super Bowl title.
He won’t say it’s Super Bowl or bust, because he’s been around long enough to know if the Cowboys fail to win a title, his boast gets thrown back in his face. So now, Jones just says the window to win a title is in the next two or three years.
This is why the Cowboys just won’t go there with a big free-agency push. They will bide their time, fill a need here and there and rely on their young core to help them win now.
“I am pleased we have put ourselves in position to, whether it’s the next free agent or whether it’s who we draft,” Jones said. “We have put ourselves in position to have total flexibility as to have taken care of the need. And we are in that spot.”
Jones will also discredit the idea that he’s acting like the 2018 team was everything to him. He made changes: Beasley is gone, David Irving is done, Terrance Williams’ option was declined, offensive coordinator Scott Linehan was let go, and Jason Witten was brought back from retirement with the understanding that he will get reduced snaps.
Further, Sean Lee got a restructured contract with a reduced role in his future. The Cowboys like their team and what they’ve done so far, regardless of whether ardent and casual fans believe in it or not.
They are confident Lawrence’s deal will get done, though the negotiation appears contentious, and that Prescott and Cooper will be next in line to settle. That’s where the focus is.
“You have so many moving parts that’s there no such thing as being right, and there’s really no such thing as being right relative to contract negotiations if you step up and say, ‘Well, I was all right in all of my contract negotiations but we haven’t won a Super Bowl in 20 years,’” Jones said. “Being right doesn’t count. … One thing I don’t do is get up and think, you know, I’m going in for a sure thing. There is no sure thing on these contracts.”
