The Dallas Cowboys are on the verge of turmoil, and that is a rebuild staring at them in the face. It starts all the way at the top with Jerry Jones, and it’s why he needs to step down for the team to truly reach the next level.
When looking at the current state of the Cowboys, there are many factors that are caused by Jones and holding the team back. It starts with how he’s taking an out of touch approach to free agency which is going to hinder the team. The Cowboys didn’t make any major moves in free agency, and instead have a worse roster because of it. When asked as to why they didn’t, Jones said “Very much think this roster, without knowing right now how much the rookies are going to contribute, we feel good about the promise of the team we’re going to have this year with this roster. We will have young players step up, no-names that become names because names have left and are off the roster. Those guys have got to step up.”
This approach has now led to them losing a star running back in Tony Pollard and relying on a re-signed Ezekiel Elliott to produce. As well as a depleted receiving group that has a disgruntled CeeDee Lamb, which we will get to later, and no top talent outside of him to help Dak Prescott. It’s also the same reason the interior of the defensive line is a weakness because while Osa Odighizuwa has played decently, Mazi Smith hasn’t and the depth behind isn’t fantastic, leading to a room that needs experienced talent. Jones is relying too much on young, unproven talent that hasn’t impacted the roster to pan out and justify his picks in the draft, but that just hasn’t happened and has played a role in hindering the success of this team.
The other approach from Jones is how much he likes to try to control situations. With being the owner and general manager of the team, he doesn’t necessarily have anyone of upper authority to help guide him through situations. As the NFL evolves, Jones has stayed stuck to old-fashioned ways, and it’s leading to the Cowboys falling behind. A prime example of this is with his recent handling of the Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb contracts. When being asked as to why none have gotten done yet, a statement of his was, “We’d like to see some more action. It’s called option quarterback. … That’s working the problem. I’ve spent my life being an option quarterback. I can go all the way out to the sideline and still have a pitch in me. I can do that, and that’s just a style that you have. So, you never know. You may give money to somebody that you shouldn’t have given it to.”
That’s another main issue, Jones doesn’t want to be the one to reset the market for either player. Which in the long run with that philosophy is going to continue to lead to disgruntled players and losing valuable talent. The Cowboys may be tight on cap right now, but that’s due to his reluctance to change his ways and structure the team, and contracts to avoid this.
It’s clear that Jones is holding the Cowboys back and will continue to do so. The only way the Cowboys will get back to being Super Bowl contenders is if Jones steps down.