On Thursday afternoon, Jerry Jones met with the media at the Dallas Cowboys‘ “State of the Union” press conference.
Both Jerry and Stephen Jones, accompanied by head coach Mike McCarthy, met with the collective media to discuss hot-button issues the team faces this season.
With so much unsettled ahead of the Cowboys taking the field for the first time, Jones provided insight into some of the more pressing situations surrounding the team — most notably, on the unresolved contract situations for their star players.
Jerry Jones Provides Update on Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb’s Contract Situations
The elephant in the room for Jones and the Cowboys is the looming contract negotiations of quarterback Dak Prescott and the noticeable absence of star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
While Prescott is in Oxnard and accounted for, that doesn’t provide much clarity for the QB and his situation beyond the 2024 season.
However, when asked about the ongoing contract situation and if the Cowboys’ future still includes Prescott, Jones was rather direct.
“I do not think this will be his last year with the Cowboys. At all,” Jones said.
#Cowboys QB Dak Prescott pauses briefly in the middle of his answer when talking about the business of the NFL:
"I want to be here, but when you look up — all the great quarterbacks I watched played for other teams… That's not something to fear. It may be a reality for me one… pic.twitter.com/0Nbpg4B9Rd
— Jett Beachum (@JetthroTV) July 25, 2024
With Prescott having just one year left on his current deal, it would take the team and Prescott to agree to an extension — something that has yet to occur despite having all offseason to do so — for Jones’ statement to wind up being true.
If an agreement is not obtained, Prescott would play out his contract this season and then become an unrestricted free agent ahead of the 2025 season with no strings attached, as the team cannot franchise tag nor trade him without his approval first.
While having your MVP runner-up QB’s contract be unsettled on Day 1 of camp is never good, having your star wide receiver not show up as a sign of protest is another problem altogether.
Lamb stayed away from mandatory minicamp and is officially doing the same for the start of training camp as he is looking for a new deal.
When asked about Lamb’s absence and the business side of the NFL, Jones didn’t shy away from the conflict — as he views it — as just another day at the office.
“I don’t flare when it happens to us. It’s a part of doing business. … Business as usual. I can deal with this,” stated Jones.
“I don’t get bent out of shape. It goes on everywhere,” he continued.
Stephen Jones also mentioned that Lamb is looking to be the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL, with a salary north of Minnesota Vikings star Justin Jefferson’s $35 million annual average deal.
Lamb seems content to stay away until he receives the contract he feels he deserves, and the Jones family seems happy to let the process play out — no matter how it all shakes out in the end.
Jones Continues To Insist Cowboys Are All-In
The adopted company line that has haunted Cowboys fans all offseason just won’t go away.
From way back at the NFL Combine in February when Jones mentioned that the team was “all-in” this season, it has been a running joke among the fanbase ever since.
The Cowboys did essentially the bare minimum in free agency and lost several of their own players in the process, which caused fans to wonder if they have a different definition of all-in than them.
However, in the press conference to open up training camp and the 2024 season, Jones made sure to slip in a few all-ins into the mix just in case fans forgot.
#Cowboys owner Jerry Jones continues the “All in” rhetoric: "I'm all in. I'm all in."
He then further elaborates what all in means to him.
pic.twitter.com/du0sXiygHz— Tony Catalina (@Tony_Catalina) July 25, 2024
“I’m all-in… I’m all-in,” Jones reiterates.
“Sometimes being all-in means you narrow. You remove the months out here that are in the future and you narrow it down to where all we are talking about is right now and the next playoff season, and that’s it for everybody… we’re all-in,” he continues.
“We’re all-in. It’s all right there … zero right now in this.”
The sentiment is a fine one, but to the fans who have been starving for playoff success and who thought they were going to get a team that was committed to upgrading the team this offseason, the message may fall on deaf ears with Jones still trying to assure fans his head is in the right place.
“I’m more about winning the award about ending the season the right way than I am worried about starting training camp with my entire house in order.”
“I take a lot of solace that we will be able to get to the playoffs and take the next steps when we get there.”
Jones continues to insist he believes in the team they have now, and the approach that younger players stepping up is the path that will allow them to finally break through.
However, with a quarterback, head coach, and defensive coordinator all in lame-duck years, coupled with an upset star wide receiver staying away from the team, it’s hard to buy what Jones is selling right now.