Jerry Jones normally fuels the Dallas soap opera, but an uncharacteristic season of contract peace is finally letting football—not front-office friction—take center stage in Frisco.
FRISCO - There are some people who thrive on drama.
They enjoy the tumult. They're fueled by conflict. As "Batman''s butler Alfred said of the motivation of "The Joker,'' "Some men just want to watch the world burn.''
When it comes to Jerry Jones' Dallas Cowboys, "drama'' is very much part of the organizational fiber. Owner Jones is fueled by many things - winning and money are both high on the list - but as he approaches age 84, one aspect of his 37 years in charge of "America's Team'' has never changed.
Tumult and conflict and drama - if not the "world burning'' - are always part of the show.
What did Jerry say not long ago about making sure his Cowboys stayed "above the fold'' and in the headlines?
"If we're not being looked at, I'll do my part to get us looked at," Jones said. "The Cowboys are a soap opera 365 days a year. When it gets slow, I'll stir it up. ...
"There's sizzle, there's emotion, and if you will, there's controversy. That controversy is good stuff in terms of keeping and having people's attention."
But what if "people's attention'' could be captured because the headlines are about, you know, football?
This offseason - to the credit of Jones and his front office - feels different. No, not in the way that promises a Super Bowl appearance that would end Dallas' 30-year drought in that department.
But "different'' because, for starters, there is no contract drama. For the first time in forever, there's no negotiating "soap opera'' involving the head coach or a star player vs. management.
Jones and George Pickens pulled the plug on that when the Pro Bowl receiver showed up to minicamp last week and indicated he's happy to remain with the team through the rest of the 2026 season while playing on his $27.3 million franchise tag ... even though it's not quite the long-term deal he desired.
Jones and Brandon Aubrey did the same thing a few weeks early, with the All-Pro kicker agreeing to a deal well short of the rumored $10 million APY he was wishing for - but at $7 million per year, still making him the highest-paid kicker in NFL history.
Contrast this to years past.
Last summer, Jones' standoff with All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons turned into a PR nightmare that resulted in a trade with Green Bay.
The Cowboys' 2024 offseason was muddied by contract disputes involving both Pro Bowl quarterback Dak Prescott and All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, with a full resolution not arriving before the Saturday kickoff before Week 1 at Cleveland.
That season also saw head coach Mike McCarthy playing on the final year of a contract, his "lame-duck'' status lingering until after the season, when he was dumped in favor of staffer Brian Schottenheimer.
In 2023, All-Pro right guard Zack Martin held out of training camp before gettingf what he wanted.
In 2021 and 2020, Prescott was involved in offseason contract battles.
In 2019, Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott sat out until he got his extension signed on Sept. 4, just days before the start of that season.
We can stop there. You get the idea.
Now, it's not that Dallas is the only team that involves itself in contract disputes. No, what's different here is the volume of it all, turned up to 11 in part because Jones likes those headlines ...
Even if it causes the Cowboys football world to "burn.''
"Obviously, we're used to it, so it wouldn't be absurd to have it, but it is good we won't have that this year," said Prescott last week, clearly relieved at the lack of drama. Hopefully, these are the last of those questions ...''
There will be more contract issues in the future, no doubt. What a great problem it would be to have if linebacker DeMarvion Overshown excels in this contract year, if Pickens plays like an All-Pro again as he approaches 2027 free agency, if Quinnen Williams establishes himself as an institution here worthy of a raise.
Oh, and the Cowboys might eventually need to do something with Dak's money, too.
So tumult and conflict and drama could eventually resurface.
Said Schottenheimer: "So, is it quieter? I'm not going to say that because you never know what's coming around the corner, man. Shoot, I could be sitting on a beach somewhere and next thing you know your phone starts ringing. ... (But) we'll take it right now."
"Right now'' the Cowboys are pointed in a different direction - a more peaceful direction - than they usually are entering training camp.
And so will come a test for the many of us who believe that "Jerry's Culture'' and all the football-useless noise that comes with it has been the distraction that's kept Dallas from succeeding in the playoffs.
No tumult. No conflict. No drama. Let's see if "peace and quiet'' can lead to the Dallas Cowboys roasting some opponents instead of "burning up their own world'' with non-football foolishness.
