By Julian MacKool, Sports Department Member
The Dallas Cowboys finished last season 7-10, and things will only worsen before they get better next season. Starting quarterback Dak Prescott underwent season-ending torn hamstring surgery. Like many other seasons, the Cowboys are going into next season filled with Super Bowl aspirations. After winning three Super Bowls in the 1990s, two with their current owner, president, and general manager Jerry Jones, they have not reached a conference championship game since 1996. Cowboys fans are still coming into every season with those same aspirations but have left every season since 1996 disappointed.
A lot of the disappointing seasons are Jerry Jones’ fault.
From his coaching hires to his draft decisions and his contract negotiations with current players on and off the team, this season is no different than what Cowboys fans have seen from Jones running the team for the last 20 years.
Coming into the 2024 season, the Cowboys had high expectations following a home loss to the Green Bay Packers 48-32 in the NFL Wildcard Game because there was some promise. Dak Prescott was an MVP finalist last season, and star wide receiver Ceedee Lamb finished top two in every receiver category the previous season. However, both were due for new contracts for the following season.
Tensions were very high when it came to negotiations. For Lamb, it took nearly five months to agree with Jones on a new contract. Lamb even sat out all of training camp. Prescott’s contract negotiations took almost two years. Finally, Jones and Prescott reached an agreement hours before the season’s first game. Both players’ salaries combine for $331 million guaranteed and well over half of the team’s salary cap for the next four years. It is still good that they both got paid, however, the tension going into the contracts has made it so that Jones and the Cowboys lose trust in players, making it hard to have a cohesive team.
After losing in the playoffs in 2023, the Cowboys had a glaring issue to deal with in the off season. A weak run game. To fix their weak run game, the Cowboys had the opportunity to sign all-pro running back Derrick Henry. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, Jones argued they couldn’t afford Henry due to his high salary demand, so there were no talks between the two. Henry then signed with the Baltimore Ravens for two years, $16 million. The Cowboys had $25 million in salary cap to work with, and Henry’s deal with Baltimore only cost $9 million this season.
Due to Jones’ cheapness, the Cowboys could not address one of their glaring problems.
The Cowboys did sign former Cowboys’ running back Ezekiel Elliott to a one-year, $3 million contract, but he is a different player since he was with the Cowboys last. The last time Elliott was a starting running back for the Cowboys was in 2022. He finished with 876 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. In the last two seasons with the Patriots and again with the Cowboys, he rushed for 868 yards and six touchdowns combined. Now, at the end of the 2024 season, Derrick Henry is second in rushing yards and first in rushing touchdowns, while the Cowboys are last in rushing touchdowns and 26th in rushing yards.
The Cowboys missed the playoffs, disappointing fans once again this season. Cowboys’ Head Coach Mike McCarthy and Jones couldn’t agree to a new contract and will leave the team. The Cowboys hired Brian Schottenheimer, who was offensive coordinator for the Cowboys for the last two seasons. Despite play calling going to McCarthy, Schottenheimer knows the team and what the issues are, but will this be another temporary coach, due to a long-term problem that has been around for almost 30 years?
Jerry Jones needs to wear less hats on the team because he is currently the owner, president, and general manager. All these roles get in the way of his decisions. Jerry Jones has a decision to make because if he continues to make most of the decisions, the Cowboys will continue disappointing fans.
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