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Is this the same Jerry Jones? Cowboys owner couldn't close deals in draft; how rare is it?
By Brandon George , Staff Writer
IRVING -- No one in the NFL likes to wheel and deal more than the Cowboys' Jerry Jones.
But can an owner change his spots?
Even for a man who still carries around a flip-phone, Jones knows how to work a call. Since he bought the Cowboys in 1989 he's made a whopping 64 draft-day trades.
Let this sink in: Of the 253 players selected by the Cowboys since 1989, 101 were chosen with picks obtained in trades.
But even though Jones tried hard to keep up his reputation, he wasn't able to pull off a draft-day trade this year. That's rare. This was only the third time in 28 drafts that Jones hasn't made a trade (also happened in 2000 and 2011).
"Boy, I spent as much time, maybe the most time - now we've certainly had maybe some of those times when we had nine trades, seven trades - but we spent a lot of our draft time trying to trade," Jones said Saturday night. "Let's put it like this: Trading in the verbal sense, we spent a lot of time trading in there. Now, did we get a trade? No, but that's the way that stuff goes. I've spent a lot of my life on no results but doing a lot of trading."
No kidding.
Since taking over the Cowboys en route to becoming a billionaire, Jones has been involved in 146 total NFL trades.
He's made trades involving every NFL team except the Cincinnati Bengals.
Maybe he's not a big fan of Skyline Chili.
What we do know: Jones was certainly aggressive during this draft. The Cowboys wanted to double-dip in both the first two rounds. They drafted Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott fourth overall Thursday night and then offered their second- and third-round picks in an effort to trade back into the first round to draft Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch.
"I actually thought we had done it," Jones said.
On Day 2 of the draft Friday, the Cowboys wanted to use their early pick in the second round on Oklahoma State defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah and then trade back into the middle of the round to select injured Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith. But Ogbah was the first player taken Friday - by Cleveland, two spots in front of Dallas - and the Cowboys had to settle for taking Smith with the third pick of the second round. They drafted Nebraska defensive tackle Maliek Collins in the third round.
The Cowboys also tried to trade up to draft Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook. But Oakland jumped the Cowboys by one spot in a trade up in the fourth round to draft Cook. The Cowboys then took Oklahoma defensive end Charles Tapper before later in the round selecting Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott.
And just think of what the implications could have been if Jones had succeeded on some of the trades. If he had traded for Lynch, the Cowboys wouldn't have been able to add a defensive player -- and that was much needed -- until the fourth round to start Day 3 on Saturday. If the Cowboys would have been in position to draft Ogbah on Day 2 and then trade back into the second to get Smith, they could have easily given up a pick this year that was eventually used on Prescott. After all the work the Cowboys did coming into the draft on quarterbacks, they could have again not drafted one.
Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make.
Jones said he doesn't believe he underpaid in an attempt to trade up for Cook.
"And the main reason is I like what we got [in Prescott], and it was right there for us," Jones said.
Jones said he only slept three hours Thursday after not pulling off the trade to draft Lynch and then woke up mad that he had failed.
"I might have zigged when I zagged," Jones said. "Things don't quit turning because you don't do any one thing.
"Before I jump from Dallas' tallest I'm going to see what we get from the two and three [picks] and see how bad I feel then."
Jones took a philosophical route when taking the blame for not pulling off the trade to get Lynch late in the first round.
"When I look back over my life I've overpaid for my big successes every time and when I've tried to get a bargain or get it a little cheaper or get a better deal on it I've ended up usually getting it and not happy I got it or missing it," Jones said. "And I probably should have overpaid here. Now, looking at what we got and looking at what we've got with Smith and relative to the team, we won't know how meaningful this is for a long time. Just looking at that in a narrow way - just that night, that day - that bothered me a little bit. I didn't get any sleep."
Rest assured Jones hasn't changed. He just couldn't close the deal in 2016.
By Brandon George , Staff Writer
IRVING -- No one in the NFL likes to wheel and deal more than the Cowboys' Jerry Jones.
But can an owner change his spots?
Even for a man who still carries around a flip-phone, Jones knows how to work a call. Since he bought the Cowboys in 1989 he's made a whopping 64 draft-day trades.
Let this sink in: Of the 253 players selected by the Cowboys since 1989, 101 were chosen with picks obtained in trades.
But even though Jones tried hard to keep up his reputation, he wasn't able to pull off a draft-day trade this year. That's rare. This was only the third time in 28 drafts that Jones hasn't made a trade (also happened in 2000 and 2011).
"Boy, I spent as much time, maybe the most time - now we've certainly had maybe some of those times when we had nine trades, seven trades - but we spent a lot of our draft time trying to trade," Jones said Saturday night. "Let's put it like this: Trading in the verbal sense, we spent a lot of time trading in there. Now, did we get a trade? No, but that's the way that stuff goes. I've spent a lot of my life on no results but doing a lot of trading."
No kidding.
Since taking over the Cowboys en route to becoming a billionaire, Jones has been involved in 146 total NFL trades.
He's made trades involving every NFL team except the Cincinnati Bengals.
Maybe he's not a big fan of Skyline Chili.
What we do know: Jones was certainly aggressive during this draft. The Cowboys wanted to double-dip in both the first two rounds. They drafted Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott fourth overall Thursday night and then offered their second- and third-round picks in an effort to trade back into the first round to draft Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch.
"I actually thought we had done it," Jones said.
On Day 2 of the draft Friday, the Cowboys wanted to use their early pick in the second round on Oklahoma State defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah and then trade back into the middle of the round to select injured Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith. But Ogbah was the first player taken Friday - by Cleveland, two spots in front of Dallas - and the Cowboys had to settle for taking Smith with the third pick of the second round. They drafted Nebraska defensive tackle Maliek Collins in the third round.
The Cowboys also tried to trade up to draft Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook. But Oakland jumped the Cowboys by one spot in a trade up in the fourth round to draft Cook. The Cowboys then took Oklahoma defensive end Charles Tapper before later in the round selecting Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott.
And just think of what the implications could have been if Jones had succeeded on some of the trades. If he had traded for Lynch, the Cowboys wouldn't have been able to add a defensive player -- and that was much needed -- until the fourth round to start Day 3 on Saturday. If the Cowboys would have been in position to draft Ogbah on Day 2 and then trade back into the second to get Smith, they could have easily given up a pick this year that was eventually used on Prescott. After all the work the Cowboys did coming into the draft on quarterbacks, they could have again not drafted one.
Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make.
Jones said he doesn't believe he underpaid in an attempt to trade up for Cook.
"And the main reason is I like what we got [in Prescott], and it was right there for us," Jones said.
Jones said he only slept three hours Thursday after not pulling off the trade to draft Lynch and then woke up mad that he had failed.
"I might have zigged when I zagged," Jones said. "Things don't quit turning because you don't do any one thing.
"Before I jump from Dallas' tallest I'm going to see what we get from the two and three [picks] and see how bad I feel then."
Jones took a philosophical route when taking the blame for not pulling off the trade to get Lynch late in the first round.
"When I look back over my life I've overpaid for my big successes every time and when I've tried to get a bargain or get it a little cheaper or get a better deal on it I've ended up usually getting it and not happy I got it or missing it," Jones said. "And I probably should have overpaid here. Now, looking at what we got and looking at what we've got with Smith and relative to the team, we won't know how meaningful this is for a long time. Just looking at that in a narrow way - just that night, that day - that bothered me a little bit. I didn't get any sleep."
Rest assured Jones hasn't changed. He just couldn't close the deal in 2016.
