Jerry Jones Makes Bold Free Agency Promise to Cowboys Fans

Jerry Jones has made it clear that he believes the Dallas Cowboys have a chance to contend if they can fix their defense.

Dallas had one of the best offenses in the NFL last season, led by quarterback Dak Prescott. The veteran signal-caller had two star wide receivers to work with in CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, as well as a breakout player at running back, Javonte Williams.

With Williams' contract extended earlier this offseason and Pickens being given the franchise tag on Friday, that unit is expected to return in 2026. That's promising, but the defense in 2025 was a complete disaster. The good news is that Jones says he's going to do everything in his power to fix this. While speaking with reporters at the NFL Combine, Jones said he expects to be aggressive in free agency this year.

"That the guy that's back there looking at the account would say we don't have any or don't have enough. I could see me being aggressive. I could see us being aggressive in free agency," Jones said.

"And by the very virtue of having two number ones, we're going to spend more money in the draft than normally you would spend, even though we don't have a two. Everybody knows those two ones are dramatically different than a one and a two financially. So we'll spend money."

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones:

“I can see us being aggressive in free agency.” pic.twitter.com/7PZEw0ocVy
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) February 28, 2026

Jerry Jones made it clear that he will spend money on defense

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones before a game against the Minnesota Vikings. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Hearing Jones say they will spend more money simply because they have two No. 1 picks might give fans reason for concern. In the past, he's spun words to make it sound as though he was doing all he could without doing much.

In 2024, for example, Jones claimed he was "all-in," giving fans hope they would be aggressive in free agency. Instead, Jones had one of the more frugal free agency classes any team has ever seen, but said he truly was "all-in" because he extended his own players.

Fortunately, Jones clarified this time that he's willing to spend on defense. While speaking with ESPN's Todd Archer, he said they would spend on free agents.

"I would bet that we will spend more money in free agency than we have," Jones said via Archer.

Jones added that fans can expect him to borrow some of his future to make those signings work. As for his intentions, Jones added that he has to fix the defense and that will be his focus this offseason.

"I look at where we are with Dak and I look at where he is in his career. And I look at some of the pluses that we have on our front and what we think we can do there. And what we can do with [George] Pickens and Lamb and what we can do with our running back that we just signed [Javonte Williams]," Jones said via Archer.

"And so all of those things I want to do everything we possibly can to stop somebody and to basically win some third downs more than we did last year. And so I think that would be the area that you would see me bust the budget. Where you would see me do that is what we're doing defensively."

There will always be skepticism from fans based on Jones' history, but his words are encouraging. The Cowboys have to spend in free agency to contend this year, and it sounds like Jones finally understands this.

Jerry Jones made it clear that he will spend money on defense

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