Jerry Jones has nobody to blame but himself. The Cowboys owner just watched two of the most valuable players on his roster — WR Amari Cooper and CB Byron Jones — walk to free agency and he doesn’t even have a long-term deal with his quarterback to show for it.
Failing to get a deal done with Dak Prescott before the deadline Monday, the Cowboys were forced to use the franchise tag to prevent him from getting to free agency. In the meantime, they were unable to strike a deal with Cooper, whom the team acquired for a first-round pick in 2018, or Jones, who has emerged as one of the better players at his position after making the switch to cornerback two years ago.
This might not be the worst-case scenario for Dallas, but it’s pretty damn close.
And it can all be traced back to the illogical decision to give Ezekiel Elliott a second contract despite the overwhelming proof that giving a running back a big extension will almost assuredly backfire.
While Elliott’s play hasn’t fallen off (yet), the backfiring part has already started. The Cowboys will almost certainly be worse off than they would have been had they signed Cooper and Jones months ago. They’re either losing two of their better players (who happen to play two of more valuable positions in the sport) OR they’ll have to win a bidding war with other teams to bring them back. If they scrounge up enough money to do that, it will seriously compromise their salary cap situation in the near future.
Neither outcome is ideal.
Jerry could have avoided this outcome by putting the Elliott contract on the back burner, where it belonged, and made Dak, Amari and Jones his priorities last offseason. Instead, he committed $50 million in guaranteed money to a running back who wasn’t any more efficient than his rookie backup in 2019. Tony Pollard’s success — he averaged 5.3 yards-per-carry compared to Elliott’s 4.5 — was just more proof that the Cowboys offense would have been fine without Elliott in the fold.
I spent last offseason debunking the claims that Elliott was the engine of the offense, showing that his presence did not affect how defenses played the Cowboys nor did it make their play-action pass game any more effective. Then Prescott went out and made me look smart by playing like one of the very best quarterbacks in the league and leading the Cowboys to a top-5 passing offense per DVOA.
In the process, he drove up his asking price considerably, costing Dallas millions in future cap space.
Had Dallas agreed to a long-term extension with Prescott a year ago, they’d now have the financial freedom to get deals done with Cooper and Jones. Instead, they’ll have to say goodbye to AT LEAST one of them. But, hey, at least he has his franchise running back to build around. Good luck with that.
Prescott will eventually get his money. Quarterbacks always do. Jerry should have realized this long ago and adjusted his priorities accordingly. He didn’t and now he’s dealing with the consequences.
The new league just got underway and the Cowboys already look like one of the offseason’s biggest losers.
[vertical-gallery id=900631]
[jwplayer uAv77CHo-q2aasYxh]