The Cowboys are often accused of living in the past. The five-time Super Bowl champs haven’t made a conference title game since the 1990s so a special appreciation for the past is understandable for the historic franchise.
But that reverence for yesteryear warrants caution because the formula that worked in the past isn’t necessarily the right formula to work in the present. Top Cowboys brass, namely Jerry and Stephen Jones, have been accused of trying to impart their winning formula from the 1990s on the team today.
Recent statements from Stephen Jones during the Cowboys training camp presser indicate that is not the case. The winning formula isn’t a run-first attack which the passing game spawns from; and his recent actions appear to back up those words in some regard.
“First of all, our league evolves, and you know Mike and I were just talking about it in the room before we came out here and this is a quarterback driven league now,” Jones said. “Obviously throwing the ball is a big part of this game. You get down to the two minute and you gotta be able to throw the ball. It used to be, 20 years ago, it revolved around a running back. Running back may have been more important than the quarterback.”
Stephen Jones acknowledged the way to win in the NFL changes and what worked 20 years ago is not what works today. He specifically pointed out the shift from the ground game to the passing game, somewhat putting to bed rumors of him strategically living in the past.
The Ezekiel Elliott extension in 2019 notwithstanding, the Cowboys’ front office actions largely back up such claims.
“We offered Tony a long-term deal,” Jones said of Pollard. “The same holds true for tight end. We offered Schultz a long-term deal and we didn’t agree. The reason you don’t agree is they want more, and you want to pay a little bit less.”
For those who need reminding: Schultz accepted a one-year, $6,500,000 deal with the Texans in the offseason so there’s a good chance the Cowboys long-term offer wasn’t a big one.
Jones admitted Dallas offered Tony Pollard a long-term deal. An offer Pollard declined, preferring to play on the franchise tag in 2023. One can assume, because the terms were not made public, the offer the Cowboys made was in line with what’s happening to RB values across the NFL and something many would categorize as a low-ball offer.
It would seem the Cowboys front office’s words and actions both support the idea the passing game is king, and the run-heavy nature of day’s long past is not something they are trying to recreate.
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