The Dallas Cowboys - and its owner Jerry Jones - sure do things differently.
The latter proved why that is again on Wednesday by having a full one-hour interview with none other than Stephen A. Smith. In it, it didn't take long for him to address the elephant in the room and, unprompted, brought up the criticism he and the Cowboys are receiving ahead of the 2024 NFL season after a quiet free agency and an offseason in which Dak Prescott's contract extension hasn't been agreed to.
Below is Jones' full explanation of why he's bothered by the fans' criticism of him. Usually, I'd break it up with some blurbs here and there on my end but I believe it's best in this case to give you the full quote straight up with no interruptions:
"I feel a lot better than some of the critiques that maybe I'm getting more than they are, but I'm sensitive to them. Frankly I'm a little surprised, I'm surprised that it isn't more apparent to fans that we've put an outstanding team together. I think the team is in better shape to roll than it was last year.
We got criticized in the offseason about that we weren't out after the big names in free agency. We were criticized because we had some special, or have had special contracts for some key players.
With frankly, in my opinion, most of the thing to watch for on those key veteran players: Lamb, of course Dak Prescott - and maybe even Parsons - the key thing to remember about them is, except for Lamb, that's not this year. That's not 2024. That's about the future from 2024. I'm talking about the discussion, the contracts, those type of things.
And of course I'm wearing it on my sleeve a little bit. I actually, Stephen A, I am a pleaser. It bothers the hell out of me to really get critiqued and criticized, especially if they're getting near the red meat. They're getting in there where I'm double sensitive about it. But there's not many things about the Cowboys that I'm not sensitive about."
It's not a surprise that Jones' stance is that they've got a great team. In fact, it's true the Cowboys have a pretty strong roster on their hands, which is why they're expected to have a winning season for the fourth consecutive year. With that being said, the criticism mostly comes from the team's consistent low ranking in cash spent versus the salary cap.
Oddly enough, despite Jones claiming it was only Lamb's turn for a contract, Prescott has always been in the same boat as his receiver as he's entering a contract year. Heck, he should've been higher in the priority list considering he can't be tagged like CeeDee could've. So naturally, that's an argument that should put into question. Perhaps Jones meant Lamb's holdout was hurting the team's chances this year although during the negotiating, the owner claimed they weren't worried about CeeDee not being around training camp. In 2024, the Cowboys rank 31st in cash spent to cap ratio.
Later in the show, Jones did praise Prescott, adding he's the kind of quarterback that improves every year.
"I fundamentally see someone who is getting better," Jones said of Prescott, as an explanation of why he believes Dak can be better in the postseason. "I think he got better with Mike (McCarthy as the offensive architect and play-caller)."
As fans await the season opener against the Cleveland Browns, the clock is ticking for Dallas to strike a deal with its quarterback. Although a contract could be agreed to with the season already underway, odds are it'll be harder to pull off as Prescott shifts his attention to the regular season as it's not uncommon for agents to seat unofficial deadlines at the league's kickoff. It's worth pointing out Prescott has said before he doesn't need a deal done before the season starts.
