Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
You wouldn’t blame Dallas Cowboys fans if they were wary about the words that come out of the mouth of longtime owner Jerry Jones.
After all, Jones always has plenty to say, and as we’ve seen numerous times in the past, only occasionally do his words hold any truth or are in touch with reality.
This time, however, it appears that Jones may well be genuine when he says his team is in for a big offseason, and the team’s actions appear to be backing it up.
Dallas Cowboys Make Moves To Show Jerry Jones Might Be Serious About Free Agency
“I would bet that we will spend more money in free agency than we have,” Jones told beat reporters during the NFL Scouting Combine.
“I want you to know that the only way to push forward is for me to go borrow some of my future. Expect me to go borrow some of my future, okay? …I want to do everything we possibly can to stop somebody, and to basically win some third downs more than we did last year. So I think that would be the area that you would see me bust the budget.”
That sounds very similar to Jones’ “all in” comments from two years ago before the Cowboys did little to nothing in free agency.
However, recent moves suggest that, for once, Jones might mean what he says.
Not only has Jones gone outside of his traditional comfort zone to hire a new defensive coordinator in Christian Parker. But he’s also been proactive in restructuring contracts in order to create cap space ahead of free agency, and could well create even more.
Because it’s Jerry Jones, this could certainly all be a matter of smoke and mirrors. But at 83 years old, Jones could see a world in which his chances to see the Cowboys win another Super Bowl are shrinking, and with Dak Prescott back playing at an elite level, now may well be the time to actually push all his chips into the center.