Cowboys owner Jerry Jones recently said that he plans to go “all-in” this offseason, in an effort to improve his team. Given the various cap challenges the Cowboys face, the meaning of his “all-in” vow was not clear.
During his annual Scouting Combine tour-bus media session with reporters covering the team, Jerry offered a largely meaningless response.
“Your definition of what is all in and mine might not be the same thing, but I’m trying to win the games this year with my decision,” Jones said, via Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. “So I’m all in to this year.”
Jones added this later in his remarks: “I’ve drafted quarterbacks for the future, OK. I would be reluctant to do that this year. That’s an example: Use our first pick for quarterback this year, for the future if you had an opportunity there. You are at 24 and the greatest thing since ice cream, he’s sitting there. I’d be reluctant to do that this year. That’s called ‘all in’ this year.”
That’s not really “all-in.” That’s common sense. And it indicates that the Cowboys do indeed plan to extend the contract of quarterback Dak Prescott, who has a cap number of $59.4 million in the final season of his four-year, $160 million deal.
So why did he say he’s going “all-in”? It’s hard not to wonder whether he just says what he needs to say in order to keep people talking about the Cowboys, no matter what. It’s also hard not to wonder whether he’s less determined to win another Super Bowl and more determined to make everyone think he is.
What better way to sell tickets and create excitement and ensure that the Cowboys will continue to be “America’s team,” even though 29 years have passed since the last time the Cowboys appeared in an NFC Championship game?
Frankly, the Cowboys’ ability to retain a high profile and to continue to draw more viewers to its games than any other team despite not getting to the NFL’s final four a single time in nearly 30 years is more impressive than winning a Super Bowl during that same period of time. Much of that comes from Jones’s ability to constantly hype his team — even if his team constantly fails to justify the hype with postseason performances that get beyond the divisional round.
So even as the Cowboys fail to win key postseason games, year after year after year, they keep winning in a much different way. They continue to be the highest-profile team in the league, without doing nearly enough to justify that status.
Thus, while the haters celebrate every year the team’s failure to get within a game of the Super Bowl, Jones has secured a much bigger victory. His team continues to be the most valuable and attractive franchise in the entire league, without the on-field achievements to support that status.
