The Cowboys have a coherence problem, and it starts with Jerry and Stephen Jones
This offseason is exhausting.
Having clearly defined objectives and an effective, implementable plan for achieving them are key principles for any organization. They certainly should apply to the Dallas Cowboys. Not only are they a multi-billion dollar sports and entertainment empire, they are a football team. The planning and clear goal of winning should just flow from the games themselves into all aspects of the team.
However, this runs counter to a characteristic of the team that is not as universal: Nothing is easy with the Cowboys.
The latest example of this is how we have had differing takes on the role of Tyler Smith this season expressed by owner/general manager Jerry Jones and head coach Mike McCarthy. It is also one of the easiest to grasp. In the wake of the departure of Tyron Smith, Jones hinted that the plan pending the outcome of the draft was to kick the incumbent starting left guard out to tackle. But shortly thereafter, McCarthy basically pooh-poohed that idea in stating that the plan was to leave Tyler at guard until they knew who had been selected in the draft. (There is always the possibility they could still address the tackle position via free agency, but everyone is well aware of just how remote that is.)
Who has the real call here? It should be McCarthy. Utilizing your talent is the purview of the coaching staff. Management, including the general manager, are responsible for providing the talent. In Dallas, EVP Stephen Jones is also deeply involved, perhaps more so than his father Jerry. However, the draft still appears to be one place where the senior Jones reserves final decisions to himself. The point is that management should acquire players based on the requirements identified in consultation with their coaches, and then they should let the coaching staff figure out how best to use them. Most teams seem to function like that.
Dallas clearly is not most teams. Only one other team, the Cincinnati Bengals, have their owner, Mike Brown, serving as the general manager. Unlike Jones, he is not a major media darling. That seems to lead to a more effective way of running things. But there is a good deal of evidence that Jerry Jones lets his ego do a lot of the talking, and decision-making. He and his son are very hands on, and it is almost certainly true they use their influence to sometimes push for who gets playing time. That forces the hand of the coaching staff. The owners seem to fall prey to the fallacy that affects many highly successful businessmen. They conflate their acumen in making money with an overall level of genius about all aspects of their organization, and to some degree most everything else. That is something that some of us, me included, refer to as the Jones family thinking they a the smartest guys in the room. Spoiler alert: They aren’t.
Now add in that they also control the hiring and firing of the coaching staff, and the bind McCarthy is in becomes clear. This is doubly so this year with the head coach and basically his entire staff all in a contract year. They need to do everything they can to best achieve success on the field in hopes of getting offered further employment. The belief is that Jerry compensates his coaches well. Add the obvious spotlight they are in with the Cowboys, which appeals to the ego of many of them, and they have a lot of incentive to succeed. But as we have seen, the ownership is also concerned with the bottom line. And due to the way Stephen, in particular, seems to view the impact of player contracts on profitability, this creates a bit of conflict between the owners and their coaches. The Dallas franchise is just a money making juggernaut. It should lead to a willingness to invest a bit more to increase the chances for success on the field and the attending positive attention, but unfortunately the Cowboys seem to thrive just as well with negative perceptions of the team. Perhaps even more so. Add in the laser-like focus on income and expenses, and you have the mess we see at The Star. A big piece of evidence supporting this is how Jerry said that they didn’t fight to keep Tyron Smith because they couldn’t risk bringing him back and earning the incentives that are in the contract Smith signed with the New York Jets. That is a ridiculous number to be concerned about when the massive revenues of the NFL are involved, but it fits right in with the penny-pinching mindset of the owners.
This is an obvious example of the built-in chaos of the organization. It is not the only one. From the coaches’ perspective, it is good to get your star players locked up when their contracts are expiring and you know you have to retain them. But in the case of the two biggest ones that need to get done before next season, Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, there is no evidence of a sense of urgency or even efficiency on behalf of the management. The negotiations with Lamb are moving at the typical glacial pace the team has repeatedly exhibited in the past. Stephen labors under the misconception that he is a hard-nosed master negotiator despite the repeated instances of getting down to the deal-making deadline and him blinking first and paying more than he might have had to with a little more congenial approach to things. Prescott’s contract negotiations are in stasis according to other comments Jerry made when discussing Tyler Smith’s situation. There are hints they may not try to work on a new deal until the end of this year. That will just result in some other franchise quarterback, or several, getting new deals that reset the market and just make the eventual price tag for Prescott higher.
The assumption seems to be that Prescott will play out the last year of his contract even while his future deal remains in limbo. Included in this is that Prescott will not feel he needs to try and use his leverage to maximize his earnings. However, we have seen the team squander goodwill repeatedly. Prescott and his representation have one dangerous weapon in their arsenal that has been used by other players in the past: Holding out.
Clearly, the Jones family pays little attention to the adage that those who fail to learn from the mistakes of the past are fated to repeat them. Perhaps they are providing assurances to Prescott that he is going to get his bag. This has not been the history of the team. The owners seem very set in their ways, and that keeps leading to acrimonious situations, especially when they start their regrettable habit of negotiating through the media.
McCarthy would obviously hate the prospect of starting camp without his quarterback. He needs every minute of time he can get to prepare this team to succeed. His established stars are even more important when the much discussed failure to adequately address the roster holes in free agency is included. The thought that the owners are setting up a major overhaul of the coaching staff and, to a degree, the roster in 2025 hardly seems implausible. Failure this year would be a way to justify that. And with the Cowboys, that does not mean a full tanking. One more failure to advance in the playoffs would be enough. The offseason so far seems to be making that more likely.
This is not the way to run a railroad or an NFL team. But it is the way this one seems to be going. Fans are already upset by this offseason. That may just get worse as the season unfolds unless the owners do something that is sadly very unexpected.
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