Did Cowboys fans buy into yet another Jerry Jones sales pitch with ‘all-in’ verbiage?
One of the most non-sensical speakers of the last half decade, Jerry Jones has the Cowboys fanbase in a tizzy yet again. It’s a perfect storm, really. A fanbase so large, each opposing viewpoint yields more supporters than many other team’s entire fanbases. Hungry for some level of postseason success for the first time in three decades, finally achieving regular-season consistency has made playoff failures even more frustrating.
Mix in an owner who doubles as general manager and team spokesman, one who talks in Oil Salesman-ese and always wants to be in a spotlight, and the cumulonimbus clouds start rolling in.
In this National Weather Service warning, the words “all-in” were spoken at the Senior Bowl when asked about the direction of the Dallas Cowboys’ front office in 2024.
Only, he didn’t necissarily say it the way fans took it. The fans, some ready to pounce on any bit of hope, the rest ready to pounce on any chance to say I told you so, flocked to the words all-in like moths to a flame. They should know by now they’d be burned by it, but zoom into the light they sillily did.
Here's why fans are mad
Search “Cowboys + all in” on Twitter and you’ll see thousands of disgruntled customers after the news that Dallas and Tyron Smith were going to date other people come the beginning of the new league year.
Nevermind that no information was actually provided about what each side had presented to the other in terms of dollars or length, both very important things when it comes to a 32-year old who has only averaged 7.5 games a year for the last four seasons.
The majority of the fanbase threw their arms up in disgust at the Cowboys once again talking big but not coming through.
Nevermind it was Smith’s agent who released the news to Ian Rapoport, that Dallas wasn’t meeting their demands.
Nevermind that the Cowboys can literally not do anything with any free agent not their own yet as the league year hasn’t started.
Jones said the team was all in and walking away from an All-Pro offensive tackle is a decidedly not all-in move. Reports that CeeDee Lamb’s agent, representing a player on the fifth-year option for almost $18 million in cash and cap space, hasn’t heard from the team stoked the flames. The team starting to negotiate in public with their quarterback Dak Prescott, hinting at the obvious that if they don’t come to an agreement then Prescott will play under the final year of his contract, fanned them further.
All-in?
*Kisses teeth*
That is decidedly not all in.
What did Jones really say?
But again, what did Jones really say? Here’s his actual quote from the Senior Bowl.
“I would anticipate, with looking ahead at our key contracts that we’d like to address, we will be all-in,” Jones said at this year’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama on Tuesday. “I would anticipate we will be all-in at the end of this year. We will push the hell out of it. It will be going all-in on different people than you’ve done in the past. We will be going all-in. We’ve seen some things out of some of the players that we want to be all-in on. Yes, I would say that you will see us this coming year not build for the future. It’s the best way I’ve ever said. That ought to answer a lot of questions.”
Did Cowboys fans get duped by a bunch of Jones double talk?
Jones is, again, the master at saying a lot without saying anything at all. It used to be that fans could talk Jones at his word when he would give the pre-draft press conferences. But since Stephen Jones has taken over most of the day-to-day activities of running the organization, the elder Jones has been left with the job of recapping the team’s direction as opposed to dictating it.
He still wields veto power, of course, but generally it’s not him making the key decisions; he’s just the one who talks about them.
But it doesn’t matter as Jones is the one with the radio shows, tv appearances, the gaggle of reporters who flock to him because he’s known to give delectable sound bites, even if they are confusing as all of space (and yes, space is real).
Jones’ all-in statement was filled with double talk.
"I would anticipate, with looking ahead at our key contracts that we'd like to address, we will be all-in."
Key words here: “That we’d like to address.” That’s pretty open ended.
A player the team doesn’t want in their long-term plans, wouldn’t see much effort here.
It could also mean what some fans want to believe it means, they’ll give every player up for a deal everything they ask for; will cave at the negotiating table and then figure it all out at a later time.
The truth is likely somewhere in the middle, but in the meantime the sound bite got Jones resonating in every media circle, once again keeping the Cowboys in the spotlight after they failed in the postseason.
"I would anticipate we will be all-in at the end of this year."
Say what, Jerry? “Anticipate” is a hedge word; it’s verbiage used to give the impression of a commitment when there really isn’t one. Anticipate allows equivocation. “I anticipated being able to, but it just didn’t work out.”
But the key here is “at the end of this year.” If one was a negative thinker, they could interpret that as saying 2024 could be a lame duck year and the big push would come in 2025 when contracts are off the board.
And seeing how the team has acted this offseason: Not extending Mike McCarthy, signing Mike Zimmer and his staff to one-year contracts, starting to float the idea Prescott won’t get an extension.. this seems as likely an accurate interpretation as anything else.
“I would anticipate we will be all-in at the end of this year.” This could absolutely be a proclamation that the Cowboys will finally be in the Super Bowl. It also could be the opposite.
"We will push the hell out of it."
Again, if one is looking for reasons to believe the Cowboys are going to throw a bunch of money at solving their postseason woes in 2024, this is a very emphatic statement.
It could also be jibberish.
"It will be going all-in on different people than you've done in the past. We will be going all-in. We've seen some things out of some of the players that we want to be all-in on."
This feels like a key statement.
The Cowboys have gone all in on Tyron Smith in the past, with a 10-year deal. They went all in on a running back with Ezekiel Elliott’s extension. They went all in with DeMarcus Lawrence. They’ve paid wide receivers in the past. They went all in with Dak Prescott in 2021, after playing in his face for the better part of two seasons.
What if Jones is saying that there’s looking to bring in a new set of star power? Hopefully that means diving into free agency; but Stephen Jones’ track record there since taking over last decade makes that pretty impossible for anyone to believe. Still, that can’t bear out until free agency actually opens; there’s nothing Dallas can do to prove that at this very moment.
At the minimum, this statement could mean their focus will be on making Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs the new faces of the franchise.
"Yes, I would say that you will see us this coming year not build for the future."
