The leaders of the Dallas Cowboys, including owner Jerry Jones and chief operating officer Stephen Jones, are in Mobile, Alabama, this week for the annual Reese’s Senior Bowl college all-star game.
After a disappointing end to the season, the Cowboys will be looking to add reinforcements through the draft, especially since they are currently projected to be about $14 million over the salary cap heading into next season. That situation could lead to some difficult decisions in the coming months.
“The nature of what we do with our roster decisions, the fact that we’re here looking at help for this coming year here at the Senior Bowl, the fact that we’ve got some free agent opportunities, and the fact that we’ve got some substantive decisions to make on our roster as it pertains to the salary cap, that’s enough disruption to me,” the elder Jones told the media. “When we get through all those decisions, there’ll be enough disruption.”
Jerry Jones refused to address specific contracts but said many decisions must be made, especially with some players in line for pay raises.
“You have to look holistically at the entire roster at this time because we’ve got some key players that are going to move up to arguably the top three paid players on the team,” he said. “… The picture is holistic, and you have to look at the entire landscape. In most cases, you can’t fit it all in. There’s not room, so you have to make adjustments, and you do that as you move on.”
The players that Dallas decides to move on from will be another challenging decision for the team, having already made one difficult call by opting to keep head coach Mike McCarthy after another early exit from the playoffs.
“It was just overwhelmingly, I thought, the best decision to have the continuity that Mike brings,” Jerry Jones explained. “When I look at the job he’s done over the last four years, I can point to some real positives — not the least of which are his 12-win seasons. I think we have certainly made improvements in areas. … That impacts all we’re doing right now with the decisions we’re making, so it made sense to have him back.”
Jerry Jones also addressed Dak Prescott’s contract status, implying it’s been in the works while declining to elaborate, Dan Quinn’s job status as he continues as a candidate for the two remaining head coaching jobs, and the possibility of working with legendary Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
“I know him personally, and I like him,” Jones told Yahoo! Sports of Belichick. “There’s no doubt in my mind we could work together. None. None.”
However, hiring the legendary coach remains purely hypothetical at this point.
Meanwhile, Stephen Jones echoed his father’s point on building the roster this offseason and bringing players back in free agency.
“You want to bring a lot of them back,” he told the media. “Now, also, there’s reality. There’s a salary cap, and you’ve got to start really making decisions.”
