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By Jon Machota 21m ago
Jerry Jones enjoys taking risks, in business as well as football. It’s led to success for the Cowboys’ owner and general manager.
“If you are in a risky business, the first way you can have rose-colored glasses on is not to understand you are in a risky business,” Jones said before the start of training camp in 2016. “Things do happen. … We are going to focus on the good. Good people that can be on the field that can play and make plays for us. That’s not to say we aren’t going to continue to be looking for resourceful ways to win football games.”
Many would say Jones takes too much risk, particularly with some of the players he has given second (and sometimes more) chances. He has traded for players with character concerns like Charles Haley and Adam “Pacman” Jones. He drafted others like Dez Bryant and Randy Gregory. Some — Haley and Bryant — worked out. Others — Jones and Gregory — did not. Then there are the players he has drafted in the second round with injury concerns, like linebackers Sean Lee and Jaylon Smith.
Finally, there are the ones we will be breaking down right here. These are the risky free-agent signings that Jones has made, specifically over the previous two decades, and as recently as two months ago when adding defensive end Aldon Smith.
Smith has not played in an NFL game since 2015. He has been suspended multiple times for violating the league’s personal conduct and substance abuse policies. The seventh overall pick in the 2011 draft signed a one-year deal with the Cowboys after meeting with head coach Mike McCarthy back in January. Smith also has a good relationship with Dallas defensive line coach Jim Tomsula. The two worked together while Smith was playing for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014.
If there had been a poll of NFL fans before Smith signed asking what team he’d end up with, the Cowboys would have been among the favorites. And that’s not just because they needed pass rush help after losing Robert Quinn in free agency to the Chicago Bears. It has to do with the second chances that have become part of the Cowboys’ reputation as an organization.
For Jones to continue going down this path, one would expect to see some success stories. The greatest example since Jones bought the franchise in 1989 has been Haley. Anyone associated with the Cowboys in the early 1990s will tell you those three Super Bowl wins would not have been possible without Haley rushing the passer. But he was acquired via trade. What about free-agent signings?
Let’s take a look at the five most notable, listed in order of when they were signed.
1.) Alonzo Spellman. The first-round pick of the Bears in 1992 battled bipolar disorder. Off-the-field trouble ultimately led to his release from the team in 1998. He signed a one-year deal with the Cowboys in 1999 after not playing the previous season. Spellman went on to have two solid seasons in Dallas, recording a total of 10 sacks in 32 games. He then signed with the Detroit Lions in 2001 and played only five more NFL games in his career.
2.) Dimitrius Underwood. The 1999 first-round pick by the Vikings never played a game in Minnesota. He left after the team’s first training camp practice. Underwood, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, never played in an NFL game until signing with the Cowboys in 2000. The defensive lineman played in 15 games in 2000, recording four sacks, but he only played in four games in 2001 before being released.
3.) Terrell Owens. Despite helping lead the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance in Feb. 2005, Owens was released a year later after he publicly criticized starting quarterback Donovan McNabb on multiple occasions. The Cowboys then signed Owens to a three-year, $25 million deal. He played three years in Dallas, recording over 1,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns in all three seasons. The Cowboys went 9-7, 13-3, and 9-7 during Owens’ time in Dallas.
4.) Tank Johnson. A second-round pick by Chicago in 2004, Johnson had multiple run-ins with the law while with the Bears. The defensive tackle was suspended for violating the league’s player conduct policy following the 2007 season and later released by Chicago. Johnson then signed a two-year contract with Dallas and was suspended for the first eight games of the season. Johnson finished with three sacks, 36 tackles and six QB hits in 24 games with the Cowboys. He started twice.
5.) Greg Hardy. Despite Hardy facing suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, the Cowboys signed the standout edge rusher to a one-year, $11.3 million deal in March of 2015. In May of the previous year, Hardy was arrested and charged with assaulting and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend. A judge found Hardy guilty two months later; however, all charges were dropped during an appeal trial when his ex-girlfriend refused to cooperate with the district attorney’s office. Hardy, who recorded six sacks in 12 games, often clashed with the coaching staff during a season in which Dallas finished 4-12.
While these are debatable, it seems fair to say the risk paid off with Spellman and Owens. Will the same be said for Smith a year from now?
Either way, it’s unlikely these types of moves will come to an end as long as Jones is the franchise’s final decision-maker.
“Sports gives us the grandest opportunity of all to talk about reaching down and helping up or getting on somebody else’s shoulders,” Jones said in an interview with KXAS-TV in 2015. “And, so, it is almost a natural thing to reach (out) there and say to somebody that’s got God-given gifts to play at the NFL level, at the Dallas Cowboy level, ‘Hey, get it together. Come over here and do something special, and while you’re doing it, help the Dallas Cowboys and at the same time show a lot of people that you’re not the negative that a lot think you are now.'”
Jerry Jones enjoys taking risks, in business as well as football. It’s led to success for the Cowboys’ owner and general manager.
“If you are in a risky business, the first way you can have rose-colored glasses on is not to understand you are in a risky business,” Jones said before the start of training camp in 2016. “Things do happen. … We are going to focus on the good. Good people that can be on the field that can play and make plays for us. That’s not to say we aren’t going to continue to be looking for resourceful ways to win football games.”
Many would say Jones takes too much risk, particularly with some of the players he has given second (and sometimes more) chances. He has traded for players with character concerns like Charles Haley and Adam “Pacman” Jones. He drafted others like Dez Bryant and Randy Gregory. Some — Haley and Bryant — worked out. Others — Jones and Gregory — did not. Then there are the players he has drafted in the second round with injury concerns, like linebackers Sean Lee and Jaylon Smith.
Finally, there are the ones we will be breaking down right here. These are the risky free-agent signings that Jones has made, specifically over the previous two decades, and as recently as two months ago when adding defensive end Aldon Smith.
Smith has not played in an NFL game since 2015. He has been suspended multiple times for violating the league’s personal conduct and substance abuse policies. The seventh overall pick in the 2011 draft signed a one-year deal with the Cowboys after meeting with head coach Mike McCarthy back in January. Smith also has a good relationship with Dallas defensive line coach Jim Tomsula. The two worked together while Smith was playing for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014.
If there had been a poll of NFL fans before Smith signed asking what team he’d end up with, the Cowboys would have been among the favorites. And that’s not just because they needed pass rush help after losing Robert Quinn in free agency to the Chicago Bears. It has to do with the second chances that have become part of the Cowboys’ reputation as an organization.
For Jones to continue going down this path, one would expect to see some success stories. The greatest example since Jones bought the franchise in 1989 has been Haley. Anyone associated with the Cowboys in the early 1990s will tell you those three Super Bowl wins would not have been possible without Haley rushing the passer. But he was acquired via trade. What about free-agent signings?
Let’s take a look at the five most notable, listed in order of when they were signed.
1.) Alonzo Spellman. The first-round pick of the Bears in 1992 battled bipolar disorder. Off-the-field trouble ultimately led to his release from the team in 1998. He signed a one-year deal with the Cowboys in 1999 after not playing the previous season. Spellman went on to have two solid seasons in Dallas, recording a total of 10 sacks in 32 games. He then signed with the Detroit Lions in 2001 and played only five more NFL games in his career.
2.) Dimitrius Underwood. The 1999 first-round pick by the Vikings never played a game in Minnesota. He left after the team’s first training camp practice. Underwood, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, never played in an NFL game until signing with the Cowboys in 2000. The defensive lineman played in 15 games in 2000, recording four sacks, but he only played in four games in 2001 before being released.
3.) Terrell Owens. Despite helping lead the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance in Feb. 2005, Owens was released a year later after he publicly criticized starting quarterback Donovan McNabb on multiple occasions. The Cowboys then signed Owens to a three-year, $25 million deal. He played three years in Dallas, recording over 1,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns in all three seasons. The Cowboys went 9-7, 13-3, and 9-7 during Owens’ time in Dallas.
4.) Tank Johnson. A second-round pick by Chicago in 2004, Johnson had multiple run-ins with the law while with the Bears. The defensive tackle was suspended for violating the league’s player conduct policy following the 2007 season and later released by Chicago. Johnson then signed a two-year contract with Dallas and was suspended for the first eight games of the season. Johnson finished with three sacks, 36 tackles and six QB hits in 24 games with the Cowboys. He started twice.
5.) Greg Hardy. Despite Hardy facing suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, the Cowboys signed the standout edge rusher to a one-year, $11.3 million deal in March of 2015. In May of the previous year, Hardy was arrested and charged with assaulting and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend. A judge found Hardy guilty two months later; however, all charges were dropped during an appeal trial when his ex-girlfriend refused to cooperate with the district attorney’s office. Hardy, who recorded six sacks in 12 games, often clashed with the coaching staff during a season in which Dallas finished 4-12.
While these are debatable, it seems fair to say the risk paid off with Spellman and Owens. Will the same be said for Smith a year from now?
Either way, it’s unlikely these types of moves will come to an end as long as Jones is the franchise’s final decision-maker.
“Sports gives us the grandest opportunity of all to talk about reaching down and helping up or getting on somebody else’s shoulders,” Jones said in an interview with KXAS-TV in 2015. “And, so, it is almost a natural thing to reach (out) there and say to somebody that’s got God-given gifts to play at the NFL level, at the Dallas Cowboy level, ‘Hey, get it together. Come over here and do something special, and while you’re doing it, help the Dallas Cowboys and at the same time show a lot of people that you’re not the negative that a lot think you are now.'”
