To fans, the Dallas Cowboys have had one of the NFL's more frustrating offseasons, with the future of Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons in limbo. After speaking with the media during the team's training camp, team owner Jerry Jones made it even more confusing.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the years. But it was a miracle that I was even able to pull this off,” Jones said, referring to purchasing the team. “The same imagination, the same risk-taking, sometimes looking like a Mississippi riverboat gambler and sometimes looking like we are guarding the national vault; those inconsistencies are how we got here.
“I don‘t know if it’s going to work. But I give it everything I’ve got. Our fans got a full-time me. I’m all in.”
But Dallas begins this camp in a state of chaos, counting on rookie Tyler Guyton to step in immediately on the offensive line, counting on Ezekiel Elliott to do a major rewind on his career, and expecting Prescott to produce at a near MVP level again even while getting no work with Lamb, his single most important target, during training camp.
So, given the current state of things, fans might feel queasy hearing that Jones remains all in on building the Cowboys into a Super Bowl winner. Jones cannot complete a deal with Lamb, can’t work out an extension for Prescott, and isn’t even ready to discuss extending Micah Parsons.
How will the Cowboys perform this season?
The problem for Dallas is that even if Jones finds a way to keep Lamb, Prescott, and Parsons long-term, are they good enough to compete with the Philadelphia Eagles for the division? That's the pressure of this situation, and no one enters this season under more pressure than head coach Mike McCarthy, which might seem like a stretch considering the Cowboys are coming off a third-consecutive 12-win season with him at the helm.
But that's also the pressure that comes with working for Jones, which is why McCarthy, like Lamb, Prescott, and Parsons, hasn't seen an extension offer from Jones. With a tough opener against the Cleveland Browns on the road and then having to host the Baltimore Ravens two weeks later, that pressure could be ratcheted further.
Sprinkle in the fact that Dallas also has to play the Detroit Lions, Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers, and Houston Texans later in the year, and if the Cowboys aren't hot, this season could fail to launch. Maybe that's why Jones is hesitant to commit top dollar to everyone at once. But it will also remain a distraction until there's a resolution.
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