Jerry Jones' Caution Cause for Concern

'How 'bout them Cowboys!' The Dallas Cowboys had a solid 12-5 season in 2023. They finished atop the NFC East Division as the Philadelphia Eagles fell apart down the stretch. They followed that up with a disappointing playoff loss in the wild-card round to the Jordan Love-led Green Bay Packers 48-32. The look on Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones' face after the game told the whole story.

The disappointing loss left many Cowboy fans wondering what would be next for their team. With many decisions to come in the off-season and contract negotiations coming up, many of the team's key players and coaches, most notably quarterback Dak Prescott, will be looking for a record deal.

Negotiating Contracts with Cowboys Players

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In past years, when similar situations occurred like this, Jerry Jones has been notorious for playing 'hardball" when it comes to contract negotiations with his most notable players and coaches.

First up is Cowboys star wideout Cee Dee Lamb. He led the team last season with 1,749 yards and 12 receiving touchdowns. Cee Dee is currently on a very team-friendly rookie contract of four years for 14.1 million dollars, which expires at the end of this coming off-season.

In this current off-season, we've seen many of the top wideouts across the league get paid huge salaries, and seemingly every player who signs gets paid a little more money than the last guy.

Most recently, star wideout Justin Jefferson just inked a deal for four years and $140 million. Had the Cowboys gotten this deal done a month ago, they could have signed Cee Dee for around 28 million dollars a year. Now it looks like it's going to end up costing Jerry about $8 million dollars more per season.

Will Cowboys' QB Dak Prescott Be Moving On

With QB Dak Prescott, it looks like Jerry is taking the "wait and see approach". Dak is in the last year of his current contract. He is looking to ink a long-term, $60 million-dollar-per-year deal. That would be the richest contract ever signed in NFL history. The longer it takes, the higher the price goes for Jerry. They have yet to finish a deal with star pass rusher Micah Parsons. He is one of the best pass rushers in the game and the standout performer on that defense.

There's also been much speculation around whether or not the Cowboys would bring back head coach Mike McCarthy. Mike is now handling the play-calling duties after the departure of offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who left a year ago. Jerry was asked many times in many different press conferences about his future. He continued to assure the media that Mike McCarthy was the guy.

However, they did lose defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn who departed to join the Washington Commanders. Quinn had done a great job improving the Cowboy's defense over the past couple of seasons. They replaced him with former defensive coordinator and former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, which could be concerning for some Cowboys fans.

Jerry Jones in Search of a Super Bowl

I still expect the Cowboys to be competitive in the NFC East with the Philadelphia Eagles, as the Giants and Commanders are much less talented teams. The lack of sense of urgency by Dallas in the off-season is a little bit concerning.

Especially knowing that the Eagles, with Howie Roseman running the show, are always very aggressive in an attempt to improve their roster. They did improve again this off-season as they acquired former Giants star running back Saquan Barkley. Barkley makes a huge addition to an already loaded offense with Jalen Hurts running the show.

Jerry Jones so desperately wants to hoist one more Lombardi as he is not getting any younger. I'm not so sure this is the right approach. As the "Dak Prescott contract" continues to loom, I think there's a strong possibility this may be Dak's last season with a star on his helmet.

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Article was originally written by David Gilbert