When it comes to offseason promises, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is the GOAT
As frustrated, angry and despondent Dallas Cowboys were/are, Jerry Jones said Tuesday, “I think we can very easily be where we were last year talent-wise.”
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Thursday kicks off the NFL Draft, and that’s the vehicle that the Dallas Cowboys will use to fix it. All of it.
On Tuesday at The Star, Jerry joined Cowboys’ VP Stephen Jones and head coach Mike McCarthy to offer us all hope why what has happened thus far this offseason doesn’t matter.
“Nothing dangerous about thinking crazy things,” Jerry told us media flock. “We should think outta the box. We should be contrarians.”
For instance, it would be contrarian for the Dallas Cowboys to win a playoff game, or two. Forget three.
With the Cowboys preparing for the draft, it calls to mind the previous offseasons when Jerry would offer some rather interesting assessments of his team.
March 2002
“This is the most excited I have been since then,” Jerry said referring to the team’s trade of Herschel Walker, in 1989. “I was excited. I had the feeling it was going to be rewarding for the fans. I have the same feeling right now, that it’s going to pay off big.
“We are not interested in setting the market on players. We are looking for players who are not at the top of the market who can contribute to our success over the next several years. ... Now that we are out of that [salary-cap] trap, I don’t want any more of that cheese.”
Result: The Cowboys finished 5-11, for a third consecutive year, and fired coach Dave Campo.
February 2005
The Cowboys were aggressive in the offseason, adding veterans such as quarterback Drew Bledsoe, defensive tackle Jason Ferguson, guard Marco Rivera and defensive back Anthony Henry.
“You can’t go out and pay Rolls Royce dollars and end up with a ‘70 Chevy,” Jones said.
And then the 62-year-old Jones said, “I don’t have time to have a bad time now. It’s not on my schedule. It’s a little different than where I had been.”
Result: The team finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs.
April 2006
The Cowboys owned the 18th pick in the first round of the draft.
“It’s more likely to take the value of trading down if someone else has a player there,” Jerry said. “I feel good about the quality of the players right there.”
The Cowboys selected Ohio State linebacker Bobby Carpenter.
Result: They finished 9-7 that season, started a former undrafted quarterback named Tony Romo, and made the playoffs. Once there, Romo bobbled a snap on a short field goal, and the Cowboys lost in Seattle. Bill Parcells retired, which brought in Wade Phillips.
February 2007
“I am sitting down here in every way trying to get as much input on trying to get us to a Super Bowl,” Jerry said. “I don’t think our fans should be concerned.”
Result: In Wade’s first year, the Cowboys were the top seed in the NFC, and lost their divisional round playoff game against the New York Giants.
February 2008
“If you’d told me when we started last year that I’m going to give you 13 [victories], give you home field, and I’m going to disappoint you in the first game [of the playoffs], I wouldn’t have turned it down. I would’ve taken it,” Jerry said regarding the previous season’s finish.
“That’s not being a good loser. That’s being proud of that season. This is the second time we’ve had a team that had an opportunity to win it and got disappointed. [The other was 1994.] That’s hard to get over.”
Result: The team finished 9-7 that season, and lost three out of their last four games to miss the playoffs.
March 2010
After making the playoffs, and winning a wild card game, Jerry handed Wade a two-year contract extension.
“We’re not comfortable, I’m not comfortable,” Jones said. “There is no fear of standing pat here. We’re not caught up in the fact that by some definition we had a good season. One of the things I’m the most sensitive about, even with myself, is to think, well, we’ve got something good going and let’s just ride this thing on into the season. It’s going to be just the opposite.”
“I did stress continuity in extending Wade, but that’s about where it stops. Last year, it was not any fun in the off-season. Everybody was pointing fingers. ... I want some of that right now. I want some people nervous. I want our players nervous. I want to have the taste in my mouth that we had when we left Philadelphia the year before.”
Result: The Cowboys started the season 1-7 when Jerry fired Wade and replaced him with Jason Garrett.
February 2012
“We have talent. We ought to be knocking on the door. That is very frustrating. That’s where I am, committed with every ounce of energy and with the financial resources I have,” Jerry said.
“I see the talent level as being able to put us in a competitive situation for the Super Bowl. I’m not saying we don’t have room to have better talent. I think between free agency and the draft we are going to have talent to compete.”
Result: The Cowboys finished 8-8 that season, and missed the playoffs.
February 2013
“I think we have changed,” Jones said. “I’m positive and I feel good we have changed. I feel good where this thing sits right now. I’m not in a good mood. I’m not in a bad mood, but I’m sure not up here celebrating.
“This thing has been a big disappointment the last couple of years. I’m not satisfied. We’ve got to start knocking on the door. So there is a lot of resolve and not a lot of patience, and Jason knows that.”
Result: The Cowboys finished 8-8 that season, and missed the playoffs.
February 2016
“What is the one unequivocal fact that you can count on relative to the preparation of this draft and on draft day is that I’m planning on Romo being the quarterback for the next four or five years,” Jones said. “That’s a fact. You won’t see a decision on draft day that will fly in the face of not believing, from our standpoint, that he’ll be our quarterback for four or five years.”
Result: The Cowboys selected quarterback Dak Prescott in the fourth round of the Draft. In the following preseason, Romo suffered a broken bone in his back and never started another NFL game.
This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
