INDIANAPOLIS — Jerry Jones caused controversy on Jan. 30 when the Cowboys owner said at the Senior Bowl that the organization was going to be “all in” this year and “not building for the future.” . Naturally, his comments led some to imagine the team was willing to sign a rare and expensive free agent.
That interpretation always seemed far-fetched.
Jones acknowledged as much Friday.
“Your definition and my definition may not be the same,” Jones said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “But I'm trying to win games this year with my decisions. So I'm working hard on this year.”
The Cowboys are not expected to enter free agency with deep pockets. The team can begin negotiations with unrestricted free agents from other clubs on March 11th, and contracts can begin on March 13th. NFL Cowboys' feeling is that the Cowboys won't pursue veterans as aggressively as they have in recent years. Dak Prescott, Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb Expensive extensions for looms.
Jones on Friday sought to clarify his view of what constitutes “all in.”
“I drafted the quarterback of the future, okay?” Jones said. “I don't feel comfortable doing that this year. That's an example. Use your first pick for quarterback this year. For the future, if you have a chance, you're 24 years old and you're going to have an ice cream The best thing since is he's sitting there. I'm not going to do that this year. This is it for this year.”
In other words, the Cowboys are being reckless with their future salary cap and aren't willing to spend money on a veteran with a big contract or a big contract.
“All in” does not mean “all or nothing.”
“We're going to take every solution or work toward a solution to win this year,” Jones said. “Any solution. That's what I mean by 'go all in.' We're not willing to put more stuff down to get value if we can get more value now and more value in the future. I will do my best this year. It could be in any region. That's true in any field, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a free agent or even just in the draft. An aggressive approach to the draft, trading up for a lot of picks or trading down for a lot of picks. All we have in mind is the teams that will be on the field this year.
“We all know that every team in this league has limits on cap position, draft position, free agent position, players who can use the franchise tag, etc. You only have one. All of that. But what I'm saying is, we can be better. Duck. [Prescott] You can probably play better than him. It was arguably the best year of his career. But the good news is, I'm confident he can play better and I'm confident we can play better overall, so we're working hard. ”
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