There is an elephant in Jerry Jones’ living room, and it is worth $8 million. For Jones to sign Deion Sanders, aka Coach Prime, away from the University of Colorado, Jones is going to have to pony up a significant buyout. The buyout for Coach Prime is rumored to be worth $8 million.
The Rights to Coach Prime Would Come at a Steep Price
Perhaps this whole conversation of Jones discussing the available head coaching position with Sanders is done to set up someone else for the job. Sanders would have to be bought out of his current contract with the University of Colorado, and it is rumored to be in the $8 million neighborhood.
Yep He doesn’t pay buy outs but he doesn’t mind the national chatter and won’t shoot down the interest https://t.co/9GBJYP05ze
— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) January 14, 2025
Jones will not pay money to a coach he fires or for a coach he hires. He wants something in return. He has no problem writing a big check for the salaries of his coaches, but he is not going to be benevolent to the city of Boulder, Colo., to pay for the right to get Coach Prime out of his contract.
Jones and Sanders have already talked about the Cowboys’ opening, and Coach Prime is “considered a top candidate” for the gig, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
While the Cowboys are still going to interview other candidates, there’s a real possibility that Sanders will take over the team he once played for (or, at the very least, be a finalist for the job), but only if Jones can do the Texas Two Step around the buyout. Perhaps Coach Prime pays the buyout himself just to take over the Cowboys.
Former players like Michael Irvin have been campaigning and lobbying for Sanders to get the job. Schultz notes that there is mutual interest, and discussions will continue between Sanders and Jones in the coming days.
Right after McCarthy’s deal wasn’t renewed, it didn’t take long for NFL fans and analysts to start connecting the dots and speculating that Sanders would be the Cowboys’ next head coach.
Even before Schultz’s report, Bovada had Sanders as the favorite to land the Cowboys’ head coaching job.
Coach Prime has better odds than Buffalo’s Joe Brady, Detroit’s Ben Johnson, Houston’s Bobby Slowik, Kansas City’s Matt Nagy, and broadcaster Tony Romo.
With Jones wanting to make a splash and ensure that Dallas will remain the talk of the sports world, it makes sense to pursue the former Cowboys legend.
Sanders did a terrific job coaching the Colorado Buffaloes this season, leading them to a 9-4 record and producing a pair of potential top-five picks in the 2025 NFL Draft (Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter).