Cowboys vs. Eagles: Jerry Jones Can Build Super Bowl Team; Will He Do It?
Jerry Jones has been there and done that.
Maybe it’s time to do it again.
Jones has on numerous occasions insisted to us that "Wildcattin' Jerry'' - the risk-taking oil man turned NFL owner who for a couple of decades took gigantic news-making swings at Dallas Cowboys roster-building - is "still in there'' ...
"In there,'' he'll say, while patting his hand on his heart.
But as the the Philadelphia Eagles once again lap Dallas on the way to a Super Bowl (to take on the Kansas City Chiefs, Jerry is turning his attention to a couple of other Jones body parts.
“We’re seeing a couple of teams that have had some real success putting it all out there and paying for it later,''Jones said, mentioning the Eagles and the Rams, who won last year's Super Bowl using a "go-for-it'' management style. Don’t think that doesn’t pop in my head and get my eye, as far as doing it ...
"I know how to do that.''
There is no question but that he knows how to do it.
The question is, "Why won't he do it''?
Once upon a time, Jerry was "all buyer'' - a style best exemplified by the 1995 signing of free agent Deion Sanders.
But ... In the last decade or so, son Stephen Jones' authority inside the front office has led to what could be called a more "balanced'' approach - that is, a philosophy of not "putting it all out there and paying for it later'' in terms of frequently using up high draft picks in trades for expensive stars or in "kicking the can'' financially by signing pricy free agents ... and then worrying about the cap ramifications later.
Is that why Dallas has fallen behind Philly?
And it's not just the contending Eagles (loading up with A.J. Brown, James Bradberry, Haason Reddick, Darius Slay and C.J. Gardner-Johnson) and the champion Rams (loading up with Matthew Stafford, Jalen Ramsey and Von Miller) that have done this. The contending 49ers traded for Christian McCaffrey, the Bills signed Von Miller, the Bucs (recent champs) grabbed Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, the Bengals "bought'' a new offensive line ...
"That’s pretty impressive to have two teams in the last two years empty the bucket,'' Jones said, reflecting back on the Bucs and the Eagles. "We’ll see how it comes.''
Translation: Jerry, speaking at the Senior Bowl in Alabama, is thinking about this.
He also, however, noted that the 49ers join Dallas in terms of a championship drought. ... mentioning that fact in a way that almost sounds like excuse-making.
“San Francisco and the Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl in 25 years. Understand that. San Francisco’s in the same boat,” Jones said.
Yes, but ... the point isn't who is in "the same boat.'' The point - for a Cowboys team that is watching the Eagles go to a seventh NFC title game and then a third Super Bowl during the same 27-year window in which Dallas has done neither - is ...
Should "Wildcattin' Jerry'' make the Cowboys boat move full-steam ahead, with less regard for "balance'' and more concern for "catching Philly''?
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