I’ve been covering the Cowboys long enough to remember when they used to shoot money out of cannons at the start of free agency. Coming off a 6-10 season in 2004, the Cowboys quickly signed quarterback Drew Bledsoe. And in a 24-hour period, they signed cornerback Anthony Henry, guard Marco Rivera and defensive tackle Jason Ferguson for roughly $67 million ($32 million guaranteed).
The Cowboys would eventually replace Rivera by giving Leonard Davis a huge deal in free agency. This is how Jerry Jones used to convey his passion for winning. This was during the time he was using legendary coach Bill Parcells’ name and credibility to convince the taxpayers of Arlington to help build a $1 billion stadium. In recent years, it’s become the easiest thing in the world to keep up with the Joneses in free agency. Our local beat writers have indicated that signing 30-year-old safety Earl Thomas is virtually impossible due to his financial demands.
The Cowboys are desperately trying to figure out how to keep their own players, which isn’t the worst plan in the world. Of course, that sort of thinking led to lucrative contract extensions for players such as Roy Williams the safety and Jay Ratliff in the past. Ratliff went from being one of the best late-round picks in team history to one of the angriest men on the planet. Poor Roy was lost once Darren Woodson’s career ended in 2004, but he still got an extension. The Cowboys are currently attempting to prioritize young stars such as DeMarcus Lawrence, Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper, Zeke Elliott and Byron Jones. Oops, I left out Cole Beasley.
A little news on that front: I’m hearing Beasley actually has some folks at The Star lobbying pretty hard for him. The belief is that he’s one of the most clutch performers on offense. But there are reports Beasley wants $20 million guaranteed, and he’s convinced some teams may come close to that number. I’m told the New York Jets are a potential landing spot for Beasley. The fact that smaller players such as Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman have made such big impacts have made Beasley more valuable. I’m not saying the Cowboys should break the bank on him, but I do know Prescott has made it known how much he loves playing with the rappin’ slot receiver.
One reason I can understand the Cowboys not going overboard on an aging player like Thomas is that I don’t buy into them being one player away from a Super Bowl. I’m surprised anyone could watch how outclassed they were by the Rams in every area and conclude this team is truly knocking on the door. The Cowboys fired their offensive coordinator and replaced him with a 30-year-old coming off his first year as an assistant coach. Jerry has placed Jason Garrett in a lame-duck situation because he likes the optics with fans. He has an affinity for the robotic red-head, but he knows this fan base has had enough. This allows fans to watch Garrett twist in the wind while he gets one last chance to call plays.
With this long to-do list in terms of negotiating, Jones and son Stephen will chart the team’s course for the next several years. They don’t seem to be overly concerned as to who will coach that team. If the Cowboys have another strong season on defense but stumble in the playoffs, perhaps coordinator Kris Richard will get a shot at head coach. For now, Jones will continue to embrace the ambiguity of Garrett’s future. Presiding over a weakened head coach is what makes Jerry most comfortable in life.
And I’ve been amused lately about Jones saying that he’s running out of combines. Folks interpret this as his willingness to do anything to win another Super Bowl, but he had the same attitude when he was spending big in 2005.
“I’ll do what it takes to get us to the Super Bowl,” Jones said at the time. “It’s about winning.”
The fact that he’s 14 years older hasn’t really changed anything. And we’re crazy to think he doesn’t have at least 15 more combines in him. After all, he told us in 2013 that CT scans revealed he had the brain of a 40-year-old man. I have a hard time believing there’s an increased sense of urgency from the Benjamin Button of NFL owners.
Jerry has talked about “burning the ships” to emphasize how he was choosing to trust in certain players without a backup plan. But a man with a $250 million yacht isn’t burning anything but cash.
