After his famous quote post-game, is Jerry ready to go shopping to improve this team?
In the wake of his Dallas Cowboys' 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders in Week 2, owner Jerry Jones strutted up the AT&T Stadium tunnel to make his way to reporters ...
At which point he dropped a maybe-compelling quote.
"There's nothin' more dangerous,'' Jerry drawled, "than an old man with money."
Jones is an "old man''; he turns 84 in October. Check.
Jones has "money''; the Cowboys are just one of his holdings and are guesstimated to be worth $15 billion. Check.
So ... the "dangerous'' Cowboys are about to use Jones' money to make a drastic roster improvement?
No check. Not yet.
To the Cowboys' credit, they were more active and aggressive in spending and roster building leading up to 2026 then they'd been in more than a decade-and-a-half.
But to the notion that Jerry wasn't just in a buoyant mood post-game, that he was actually motivated to engineer a blockbuster trade?
Cowboys fans have earned their skepticism there.
As I state in the above video ....
"Is this typical Jerry Jibberish? Jones doing his customary 'Little Rock Door-to-Door Bible Salesman Country-Fried Jibber-Jabber? Or is this the promise of a meaningful roster move? I bet I know what Cowboys Nation thinks."
And yet ...
When asked by 105.3 The Fan if his quote was intended to be "football-related,'' he dropped one of his patented Easter eggs.
“Very much, very much," Jerry said. "I wouldn’t under no circumstance, with that audience, be referring to anything other than a football context.”
“I said it out of context, but I’m glad I said it. We were just feeling so good about our win that we were feeling our oats. We say this just right, don’t tamper. My point is, it’s good. We have the makings of a team here that I’m that optimistic about. I’d work to improve it in a minute financially.”
The suggestion of action? Jones has done that a few times this summer. Maybe it's valid.
The mention of "tampering''? That suggests a specific target ... an idea that is more complicated, in some cases, than it was when he last did this with us at training camp in Oxnard.
A Maxx Crosby trade? Dallas made three offers for the pass-rusher last spring. But now? It isn't as straightforward as it was a few weeks ago, given that the Las Vegas Raiders are 2-0. ... and have no reason to start dumping ballast right now.
(Worth noting: This week, they play the Saints. After that it's a Murderer's Row featuring in four straight weeks the . So maybe a fire sale is a month away).
How about Jordyn Brooks, the Miami linebacker? Sources have suggested to me that the Cowboys and Dolphins visited over the summer and that giving up a third-round pick was mentioned.
Now, Dallas doesn't have a third-round pick. So would Miami - off to an -2 start and maybe on the verge of a season-long Organic Tank - accept a fourth-rounder?
Fans wonder about disgruntled Pittsburgh corner Joey Porter. But I wonder if Dallas has any plans to replace somebody in the group it has now with a guy who I bet wants $33 million APY.
In the end, you have the right to believe that Jerry is just being a "Trade Tease.''
And then, regarding the idea of using future assets to bolster the 2026 roster: Shouldn't the Cowboys (like the aforementioned Raiders and Dolphins) make sure they "know what they are'' before making such a move?
If somehow Dallas were to beat the Baltimore Ravens in Rio this week, and maybe even top the Houston Texans on the road in Week 4?
Then they're 3-1, and Jerry might be justified in "feeling his oats.''
But the Cowboys are 3.5-point underdogs this week. And they are 2.5-point 'dogs at Houston.
And I think "the dangerous old man'' would need to see back-to-back upsets before he feels not just "oats'' ... but more important, feels great about Dallas' chances at contention.
