Some NFL execs say Stephen Jones turning Cowboys into Super Bowl contender

boozeman

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Some NFL execs say Stephen Jones turning Cowboys into Super Bowl contender


By SportsDayDFW.com Contact SportsDayDFW.com on Twitter: @SportsDayDFW


While nobody ever questions Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' business acumen, he has taken a lot of heat over the years for his football personnel decisions as the team's general manager.

But something Jerry should be credited for is the way he's turned over a lot of the personnel decisions to his son, Stephen.


In fact, according to Bleacher Report, at least one NFC general manager says: "The Cowboys are starting to scare me. You could always count on Jerry Jones (expletive) things up. That isn't happening any longer. That's a Super Bowl-caliber team now."

An AFC executive calls the Cowboys an 11-win team if Tony Romo stays healthy. The growing influence of Stephen Jones and the smart personnel decisions he's made is a reason for the renewed optimism about America's Team.

"He was seen by a lot of people in football as a trust fund baby masquerading as a football guy," the NFC general manager told Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman. "Now he's just an excellent football guy."

One of Stephen Jones' most valuable contributions is helping convince his dad that the Cowboys should pass on Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel and select offensive lineman Zack Martin in the first round of the 2014 draft.


In the most recent draft, after taking running back Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth pick in the first round, Dallas tried to trade back into the first round to select Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch. Denver ended up landing Lynch with a trade of its own. Jerry Jones later lamented "not overpaying" for get Lynch.


But the trade with Seattle would have cost Dallas its second- and third-round picks, which were used on Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith and Nebraska defensive tackle Maliek Collins. If Smith recovers completely from a torn ACL and MCL, as the Cowboys expect him to, the non-trade will have proven to be the right decision.

Stephen Jones explained the club's thinking during an interview on ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike show.

"At the end of the day, that's a hard thing for a team that has a franchise-type quarterback like we do with Tony [Romo]. It's a lot easier to overpay, if you will, when you don't necessarily have your future or what you're very pleased with on your team at that time. I think that was the tough part of it. ... We were very comfortable throughout the draft that we had about four quarterbacks that, at the end of the day, would be good picks for us, throughout the draft. Of course, we ultimately made Dak [Prescott] that pick and we have a lot of confidence that he's got the potential to be a good football player for us."


Stephen Jones has proven, and will continue to prove, that he's a good decision maker for Dallas.
 

Cotton

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Not real sure how to feel right now. Scared? Angry? Happy? Homery?
 

Smitty

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Wonder how much the Joneses paid DMN to have this story published. Citing the bleacher report eh?
 

boozeman

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Wonder how much the Joneses paid DMN to have this story published. Citing the bleacher report eh?
Mike Freeman was the guy who wrote the article on Bleacher Report. It has changed a lot from a few years ago. Legitimate writers put articles on there now.
 

Genghis Khan

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Mike Freeman was the guy who wrote the article on Bleacher Report. It has changed a lot from a few years ago. Legitimate writers put articles on there now.

I don't know who that is, but including commentary in the article like, "The massive misstep the Cowboys made was bringing in woman-beating turd Greg Hardy, but they rectified that one by not bringing him back" make me question his legitimacy. That's not a professional sentence regardless of how you feel about hardy.
 

townsend

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If Romo can last for two more years, If Gregory and Lawrence get their shit together, If the return of a bell cow gets us back into a 2014 style of offense, If Jalen Smith can actually play football, If Carr, Scandrick, Jones, and Claiborne start producing turnovers, if our other LBers can stay moderately healthy, if our Oline stops having so many mental mistakes and lives up to their potential, we have a shot in 2017 I think.
 

DLK150

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This is really putting the cart before the horse. If Dallas actually gets to and wins a Super Bowl, then feel free to anoint Stephen but right now the jury's still out as far as I'm concerned. We're still taking shots on guys in the second round based on possible upside and it's safe to say by now that it hasn't always worked out ideally.

There is some *potential* but it remains to be seen how well all the pieces come together. Right now, the only groups that are close to certain to work out are the offensive line, running backs and PK. *Maybe* toss linebackers in there as well. WR after Dez? Meh. TE after Witten? Meh. DL? At this point, meh. CBs after Scandrick? Meh. Safeties outside of Jones? Meh. QB after Romo? Meh.
 

data

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Was the original article surrounded by advertisements to buy season tickets?
 
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