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By Jon Machota 48m ago
INDIANAPOLIS — Four days in a city filled with coaches, front office staff, scouts and agents provide an opportunity for a lot of information to be passed around.
Add in several on-the-record discussions with new head coach Mike McCarthy, executive vice president Stephen Jones and owner and general manager Jerry Jones, and there’s plenty of Cowboys news to pass along.
Here are 15 of the most interesting things I learned at this week’s NFL scouting combine.
1.) There is interest in a Dez Bryant return. The former Cowboys star receiver, who turned 31 in November, is attempting a comeback after not playing the last two seasons. Many videos have been posted recently on social media of the franchise’s all-time leader in touchdown receptions, running routes and catching passes. Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes was at one of the sessions last week in Fort Worth. Dallas is working to bring back veteran free agent wide receivers Amari Cooper and Randall Cobb to continue pairing with Michael Gallup on the outside. While keeping that trio together is more likely than re-signing Bryant, the window has not been officially closed.
“I have not talked to Dez directly, but I have been thinking about it a lot in the shower,” Jerry Jones said Friday. “I have been. I have been. I am not dismissing it. I don’t want to sound like it should be dismissed by saying that. I am thinking about it.”
Why?
“Because he is an outstanding player,” Jones responded. “He has had a serious (Achilles) injury. He has been out a little bit. But Dez is a great player. And the obvious is the obvious. Is he still a great player? We know Dez better than anybody. I know him better than, I’m going to say, anybody.”
2.) If the Cowboys have to decide between Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, Prescott will be the pick. Dallas thinks highly of Cooper and what he’s done since the organization traded a first-round pick for him 16 months ago. The preference is to re-sign both – or, at the very least, re-sign one and franchise tag the other. But if they’re unable to re-sign either, Prescott is getting the tag.
On Thursday, Jerry Jones compared Prescott to his son, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones.
“The same as I feel about Stephen,” Jerry said. “There’s no going forward without Stephen or one of your family members, so you got to get it figured out.”
3.) The Cowboys don’t think they must have Cooper for Prescott to be at his best. Things didn’t work out for the Dallas offense when the team parted ways with Dez Bryant and attempted to go with a committee approach at wide receiver in 2018. Midway through the year, the Cooper trade happened, saving the season. It sounds like the feeling now is that Prescott is better equipped to handle things if he has to lead the offense without a perennial Pro Bowl wide receiver.
“I don’t want to imply that Dak needs a supporting cast more than others,” Jerry Jones said. “I think everybody, every player, goes with who his teammates are. The reality of it is you have to make those investments. It’s real. It’s real. I feel that we can put a team around (Prescott) that’ll work.”
4.) With all of that said, not having Cooper is a scenario the Cowboys are desperately trying to avoid. It’s unlikely they’ll have one of the league’s top offenses without their top outside weapon. The collective bargaining agreement discussions are making things more difficult because the new CBA would not allow teams to use both the franchise and transition tags. If the Cowboys put one of the tags on Prescott, it opens the door for the possibility of Cooper hitting the open market, making it considerably more difficult to re-sign him. Cooper would prefer to continue playing in Dallas, but he’s unlikely to stay at a discount. If he isn’t re-signed, the Cowboys would be expected to address wide receiver in this year’s draft. The position is considered very strong in this draft class. But considering all of the needs on defense, having to draft a wide receiver in the early rounds is not ideal.
5.) Jerry Jones voted in favor of the CBA that is currently in the hands of the players. Although it would lead to bigger challenges for the Cowboys to keep their top players, it would provide an opportunity for better depth across the entire roster. Jones spoke at length about the details, even referring to a piece of paper that had figures of what current Cowboys would have made last season on their rookie contracts had the new deal been in place.
For example, Jones said Dak Prescott would have earned $1.07 million more under the new plan. The fifth-year option on Ezekiel Elliott’s rookie deal would have increased by $2.1 million. Connor Williams’s four-year salary would have increased by $1.1 million. Leighton Vander Esch’s fifth-year option would increase by $600,000.
6.) Although there have been rumblings this week that the Cowboys are ready to move on from Jason Witten, that isn’t entirely true. In fact, Jones said he would like to have Witten back on the roster for his 17th season. That would likely be in a reduced role, allowing more opportunities for Blake Jarwin.
“I feel strongly that he wants to play, and I think he can play,” Jones said of Witten. “I would hope that he would not ever be anything but a Cowboy. It’s meaningful. … As I sit here right now, I think he can make a real contribution to the Cowboys.”
7.) It’s unlikely Byron Jones will be back. The Cowboys have too many top-end free agents to be able to sign them all. While the main focus continues to be on keeping Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, the team’s top corner is expected to become one of the league’s highest-paid players at his position on the open market.
“It’s certainly pretty plain to see that, when you have the players we have right now under contract, plus we have arguably three of the top free agents there are out there and we have the prospects of this collective bargaining agreement, that we’ve got some work to do,” Jerry Jones said of trying to re-sign Byron Jones. “That’s a real challenge.”
8.) Don’t pay too much attention to which agents the Cowboys met with at the combine. While it seems significant that they had their first meeting with Dak Prescott’s agent since September on Wednesday, it doesn’t mean they’re any closer to finalizing a new deal. A new contract for Prescott is not expected until after the new CBA is finalized.
“Don’t make anything of that, one way or the other,” Jerry Jones said of the visit with Prescott’s agent. “That’s not what counts. What counts is when we decide it’s time to make it work. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not dismissing the meeting. But what counts is when it looks like it fits.”
9.) There is still hope that Robert Quinn can be part of the 2020 roster. Following a team-high 11.5 sacks last season, it appeared that Quinn set himself up for a nice payday come March. While that continues to be the case, Dallas is still hoping to at least be in the conversation. Without Quinn, pass rusher becomes one of the Cowboys’ biggest offseason needs.
“He’s one of the top people – players and people – that I’ve been associated with,” Jerry Jones said. “He’s the real deal. I’m real proud to have had the time we’ve had together, number one. Number two, he really helped us last year. And so I’m hopeful that we can do something to keep him.”
10.) The Cowboys appear to have learned from their mistakes of drafting for need, particularly on the defensive line, in the early rounds. Having not received much from defensive end Taco Charlton, their 2017 first-round pick, and defensive tackle Trysten Hill, last year’s second-round pick, it sounds like Will McClay and Co. are focusing even more on selecting the best player available with this upcoming draft class.
“In the draft, it’s the best player that’s sitting there, the very best player,” Jerry Jones said while addressing the team’s biggest needs. “One thing that Mike (McCarthy) has basically emphasized with everybody is, ‘I can change what I’m doing to the skills of the player if he’s a player.’ So he says, ‘Get me the good player, and I’ll put him to work in what he does best.’”
11.) No prospect at this year’s combine wants to play for the Cowboys more than Tua Tagovailoa. The Alabama quarterback understands that Dallas doesn’t need a QB and that, even if they did, there’s almost no chance he’d fall anywhere near the 17th overall pick. But that hasn’t stopped him from talking about how much of a fan he is of the franchise. He explained at the podium earlier this week that he’s such a big fan that he named his dogs Dallas and Star.
“It’s been my family’s team,” he added. “That’s all I knew growing up. My dad’s dad’s dad was a Cowboys fan. I’ve always wanted to see the Cowboys make the playoffs, win playoff games and go to the Super Bowl. I was just so excited growing up watching the Cowboys.”
12.) The Cowboys very much want to be part of the opening of two new NFL stadiums. SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. will be the new home of the Rams. Allegiant Stadium will be the Raiders’ new Las Vegas home. Dallas already has a regular-season game on the schedule against the Rams. But both teams could be a possibility in the preseason, considering the location of the Cowboys’ training camp home in Oxnard, Calif.
“I was excited to play that first preseason game against the Rams there in the Coliseum,” Jerry Jones said. “And if possible, I’d like to be their first game – both teams’ first game, which is not impossible, I guess.”
13.) Chiefs coach Andy Reid thinks the Cowboys are getting a better Mike McCarthy than he was in Green Bay. McCarthy is hoping to join Reid in an exclusive club of coaches to take two teams to the Super Bowl. Reid led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl win earlier this month after guiding the Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance in 2005.
“He’s good for the National Football League,” Reid said of McCarthy. “I have a ton of respect for Mike. When he was out of football, he kind of recharged by going back and looking at all the things he could do or do better and analyzing himself and the game and where he wanted to go to once he became the Cowboys coach, or whoever was going to hire him. I think you’re going to get an even better coach than he was before, and that was a championship-caliber coach.”
14.) Jerry Jones would still like to bring the scouting combine to North Texas. It has been mentioned before, but the Cowboys owner brought it up again on Thursday after being asked if he’d like the combine to stay in Indianapolis.
“It has been a great place,” Jones said. “It is the center of the country. They are a great city. It is structured logistically to be able to handle this time of the year with the weather. And it’s got a lot of pluses going for it.
“But we could sure have a great combine at AT&T (Stadium).”
15.) Jimmy Johnson is going to have to continue waiting for the Ring of Honor. The two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year. However, Jerry Jones says there are no current plans to add him to the team’s Ring of Honor.
“Right now, it’s not on my mind at all, it is not,” Jerry Jones said. “We have such a big year ahead of us with Jimmy and his celebration. I want that to be the focus, period. If everybody says ‘it’s that the right order of things?’ Well, Coach Landry was in the Hall of Fame before the Ring of Honor. Here we’ve got the two greatest coaches in the history of the Cowboys. So they can go in the same order.”
INDIANAPOLIS — Four days in a city filled with coaches, front office staff, scouts and agents provide an opportunity for a lot of information to be passed around.
Add in several on-the-record discussions with new head coach Mike McCarthy, executive vice president Stephen Jones and owner and general manager Jerry Jones, and there’s plenty of Cowboys news to pass along.
Here are 15 of the most interesting things I learned at this week’s NFL scouting combine.
1.) There is interest in a Dez Bryant return. The former Cowboys star receiver, who turned 31 in November, is attempting a comeback after not playing the last two seasons. Many videos have been posted recently on social media of the franchise’s all-time leader in touchdown receptions, running routes and catching passes. Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes was at one of the sessions last week in Fort Worth. Dallas is working to bring back veteran free agent wide receivers Amari Cooper and Randall Cobb to continue pairing with Michael Gallup on the outside. While keeping that trio together is more likely than re-signing Bryant, the window has not been officially closed.
“I have not talked to Dez directly, but I have been thinking about it a lot in the shower,” Jerry Jones said Friday. “I have been. I have been. I am not dismissing it. I don’t want to sound like it should be dismissed by saying that. I am thinking about it.”
Why?
“Because he is an outstanding player,” Jones responded. “He has had a serious (Achilles) injury. He has been out a little bit. But Dez is a great player. And the obvious is the obvious. Is he still a great player? We know Dez better than anybody. I know him better than, I’m going to say, anybody.”
2.) If the Cowboys have to decide between Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, Prescott will be the pick. Dallas thinks highly of Cooper and what he’s done since the organization traded a first-round pick for him 16 months ago. The preference is to re-sign both – or, at the very least, re-sign one and franchise tag the other. But if they’re unable to re-sign either, Prescott is getting the tag.
On Thursday, Jerry Jones compared Prescott to his son, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones.
“The same as I feel about Stephen,” Jerry said. “There’s no going forward without Stephen or one of your family members, so you got to get it figured out.”
3.) The Cowboys don’t think they must have Cooper for Prescott to be at his best. Things didn’t work out for the Dallas offense when the team parted ways with Dez Bryant and attempted to go with a committee approach at wide receiver in 2018. Midway through the year, the Cooper trade happened, saving the season. It sounds like the feeling now is that Prescott is better equipped to handle things if he has to lead the offense without a perennial Pro Bowl wide receiver.
“I don’t want to imply that Dak needs a supporting cast more than others,” Jerry Jones said. “I think everybody, every player, goes with who his teammates are. The reality of it is you have to make those investments. It’s real. It’s real. I feel that we can put a team around (Prescott) that’ll work.”
4.) With all of that said, not having Cooper is a scenario the Cowboys are desperately trying to avoid. It’s unlikely they’ll have one of the league’s top offenses without their top outside weapon. The collective bargaining agreement discussions are making things more difficult because the new CBA would not allow teams to use both the franchise and transition tags. If the Cowboys put one of the tags on Prescott, it opens the door for the possibility of Cooper hitting the open market, making it considerably more difficult to re-sign him. Cooper would prefer to continue playing in Dallas, but he’s unlikely to stay at a discount. If he isn’t re-signed, the Cowboys would be expected to address wide receiver in this year’s draft. The position is considered very strong in this draft class. But considering all of the needs on defense, having to draft a wide receiver in the early rounds is not ideal.
5.) Jerry Jones voted in favor of the CBA that is currently in the hands of the players. Although it would lead to bigger challenges for the Cowboys to keep their top players, it would provide an opportunity for better depth across the entire roster. Jones spoke at length about the details, even referring to a piece of paper that had figures of what current Cowboys would have made last season on their rookie contracts had the new deal been in place.
For example, Jones said Dak Prescott would have earned $1.07 million more under the new plan. The fifth-year option on Ezekiel Elliott’s rookie deal would have increased by $2.1 million. Connor Williams’s four-year salary would have increased by $1.1 million. Leighton Vander Esch’s fifth-year option would increase by $600,000.
6.) Although there have been rumblings this week that the Cowboys are ready to move on from Jason Witten, that isn’t entirely true. In fact, Jones said he would like to have Witten back on the roster for his 17th season. That would likely be in a reduced role, allowing more opportunities for Blake Jarwin.
“I feel strongly that he wants to play, and I think he can play,” Jones said of Witten. “I would hope that he would not ever be anything but a Cowboy. It’s meaningful. … As I sit here right now, I think he can make a real contribution to the Cowboys.”
7.) It’s unlikely Byron Jones will be back. The Cowboys have too many top-end free agents to be able to sign them all. While the main focus continues to be on keeping Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, the team’s top corner is expected to become one of the league’s highest-paid players at his position on the open market.
“It’s certainly pretty plain to see that, when you have the players we have right now under contract, plus we have arguably three of the top free agents there are out there and we have the prospects of this collective bargaining agreement, that we’ve got some work to do,” Jerry Jones said of trying to re-sign Byron Jones. “That’s a real challenge.”
8.) Don’t pay too much attention to which agents the Cowboys met with at the combine. While it seems significant that they had their first meeting with Dak Prescott’s agent since September on Wednesday, it doesn’t mean they’re any closer to finalizing a new deal. A new contract for Prescott is not expected until after the new CBA is finalized.
“Don’t make anything of that, one way or the other,” Jerry Jones said of the visit with Prescott’s agent. “That’s not what counts. What counts is when we decide it’s time to make it work. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not dismissing the meeting. But what counts is when it looks like it fits.”
9.) There is still hope that Robert Quinn can be part of the 2020 roster. Following a team-high 11.5 sacks last season, it appeared that Quinn set himself up for a nice payday come March. While that continues to be the case, Dallas is still hoping to at least be in the conversation. Without Quinn, pass rusher becomes one of the Cowboys’ biggest offseason needs.
“He’s one of the top people – players and people – that I’ve been associated with,” Jerry Jones said. “He’s the real deal. I’m real proud to have had the time we’ve had together, number one. Number two, he really helped us last year. And so I’m hopeful that we can do something to keep him.”
10.) The Cowboys appear to have learned from their mistakes of drafting for need, particularly on the defensive line, in the early rounds. Having not received much from defensive end Taco Charlton, their 2017 first-round pick, and defensive tackle Trysten Hill, last year’s second-round pick, it sounds like Will McClay and Co. are focusing even more on selecting the best player available with this upcoming draft class.
“In the draft, it’s the best player that’s sitting there, the very best player,” Jerry Jones said while addressing the team’s biggest needs. “One thing that Mike (McCarthy) has basically emphasized with everybody is, ‘I can change what I’m doing to the skills of the player if he’s a player.’ So he says, ‘Get me the good player, and I’ll put him to work in what he does best.’”
11.) No prospect at this year’s combine wants to play for the Cowboys more than Tua Tagovailoa. The Alabama quarterback understands that Dallas doesn’t need a QB and that, even if they did, there’s almost no chance he’d fall anywhere near the 17th overall pick. But that hasn’t stopped him from talking about how much of a fan he is of the franchise. He explained at the podium earlier this week that he’s such a big fan that he named his dogs Dallas and Star.
“It’s been my family’s team,” he added. “That’s all I knew growing up. My dad’s dad’s dad was a Cowboys fan. I’ve always wanted to see the Cowboys make the playoffs, win playoff games and go to the Super Bowl. I was just so excited growing up watching the Cowboys.”
12.) The Cowboys very much want to be part of the opening of two new NFL stadiums. SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. will be the new home of the Rams. Allegiant Stadium will be the Raiders’ new Las Vegas home. Dallas already has a regular-season game on the schedule against the Rams. But both teams could be a possibility in the preseason, considering the location of the Cowboys’ training camp home in Oxnard, Calif.
“I was excited to play that first preseason game against the Rams there in the Coliseum,” Jerry Jones said. “And if possible, I’d like to be their first game – both teams’ first game, which is not impossible, I guess.”
13.) Chiefs coach Andy Reid thinks the Cowboys are getting a better Mike McCarthy than he was in Green Bay. McCarthy is hoping to join Reid in an exclusive club of coaches to take two teams to the Super Bowl. Reid led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl win earlier this month after guiding the Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance in 2005.
“He’s good for the National Football League,” Reid said of McCarthy. “I have a ton of respect for Mike. When he was out of football, he kind of recharged by going back and looking at all the things he could do or do better and analyzing himself and the game and where he wanted to go to once he became the Cowboys coach, or whoever was going to hire him. I think you’re going to get an even better coach than he was before, and that was a championship-caliber coach.”
14.) Jerry Jones would still like to bring the scouting combine to North Texas. It has been mentioned before, but the Cowboys owner brought it up again on Thursday after being asked if he’d like the combine to stay in Indianapolis.
“It has been a great place,” Jones said. “It is the center of the country. They are a great city. It is structured logistically to be able to handle this time of the year with the weather. And it’s got a lot of pluses going for it.
“But we could sure have a great combine at AT&T (Stadium).”
15.) Jimmy Johnson is going to have to continue waiting for the Ring of Honor. The two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year. However, Jerry Jones says there are no current plans to add him to the team’s Ring of Honor.
“Right now, it’s not on my mind at all, it is not,” Jerry Jones said. “We have such a big year ahead of us with Jimmy and his celebration. I want that to be the focus, period. If everybody says ‘it’s that the right order of things?’ Well, Coach Landry was in the Hall of Fame before the Ring of Honor. Here we’ve got the two greatest coaches in the history of the Cowboys. So they can go in the same order.”
