Jerry Jones is dancing around the salary cap like a quarterback dodging tackles. The Dallas Cowboys owner’s recent comments about financial caution have raised eyebrows, with some accusing him of pulling the wool over fans’ eyes.

At a press conference on Saturday, Jones cited the NFL’s $14.1 billion Sunday Ticket judgment as a reason for tightening the purse strings. “You need to have a feel of where the revenue is going to be down the road,” he said, painting a picture of potential financial turmoil. But is this just another play from the Jerry Jones playbook?

NFL analyst and former player TJ Houshmandzadeh isn’t buying it. On the SPEAK YouTube show, he called out Jones’s tactics. “You know what a team does though? They always [bring up] Tristan Wirfs and CeeDee Lamb… the salary cap. That’s an excuse, and we fall for it,”  Houshmandzadeh said. He argued that if teams really wanted to sign their best players, they’d find a way, regardless of cap constraints.

This isn’t Jones’s first rodeo with salary-cap gymnastics. Stephen Jones, Cowboys EVP, recently echoed his father’s sentiment on 96.7 The Ticket this week. He mentioned Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce as examples of players who took less money for team success. But is this just another attempt to justify lowballing star players?

The Cowboys’ reluctance to pay up isn’t sitting well with fans or analysts. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk didn’t mince words, suggesting Jones is “grasping for reasons to keep dragging his feet” on paying key players like Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. Florio pointed out that the league has already stated that the Sunday ticket verdict won’t affect the salary cap.

Interestingly, Jerry Jones compared his contract negotiation tactics to Patrick Mahomes’ playing style this week. “We’re option-quarterbacking, and we’re going out toward the sideline,” Jones said to a pressor. “We’re trying to make our mind up [with] what to do. Did I sound like Patrick Mahomes when I said that?” This quirky comparison might be seen as another attempt to justify his approach to fans.

Despite Jones’s claims of financial caution, the Cowboys have been making moves. Executive Vice President Stephen Jones revealed that the team sent new offers to both Lamb and Prescott recently. This suggests that while the Jones family talks a big game about cap constraints, they’re still actively negotiating with their stars.

Ex-Packer aims NFL’s “Broken” contract system

While Jerry Jones plays financial Jenga with the Cowboys’ roster, former Green Bay Packer James Jones is aiming at a bigger target: the entire NFL contract system. On the SPEAK show, Jones didn’t pull any punches in his critique.

“The system is broken,” Jones declared. He highlighted the stark contrast between quarterback contracts and those of other positions. “I truly believe that if we fix these quarterback numbers, the CeeDee Lambs, the Tristan Wirfs, the Ja’Marr Chases, they will be able to get their bread as well. Because there’s more than enough money to go around for these guys who have truly earned it, who have been All-Pros, who have been dominant at their position”

LeSean McCoy joined in on the frustration, rattling off examples of the system’s inequities. He pointed to players like CeeDee Lamb and Ja’Marr Chase, arguing they should be able to “jump with no issues” in salary, just like quarterbacks do. He also mentioned Tristan Wirfs, Josh Jacobs, and Saquon Barkley as non-QB players who deserve better pay but are held back by the current system.

The ex-Packer’s critique extends beyond just a few players. He questioned the logic behind massive contracts for quarterbacks like Trevor Lawrence, Tua Tagovailoa, and Jordan Love, who have relatively short or inconsistent track records. “This is where the system is broken,” Jones emphasized, highlighting the disparity between QB pay and performance.

Interestingly, the summer of 2023 saw a trend of paying big money for QBs with incomplete résumés. As Yahoo Sports noted, “This summer saw a slew of quarterbacks sign market-rate extensions, but where this year differed from previous years, to a degree, is that a few of these QBs who signed deals largely have incomplete résumés.”

Patrick Mahomes, often cited as underpaid compared to newer contracts, seems unfazed. “It’s awesome for the game of football,” Mahomes said this week. “It’s awesome for the quarterback position, but I think all positions. I know every time a contract comes up, everybody looks at my APY (average per year) and everything like that. I’m doing pretty well myself.”

As the NFL’s quarterback carousel continues to spin, with record-breaking contracts being handed out left and right, Jones’s words serve as a sobering reminder of the league’s financial imbalance. While Jerry Jones continues his salary cap song and dance in Dallas, it’s clear that the broader issue of NFL contracts remains a hot-button topic for players, analysts, and fans alike. The question remains: Will the system ever change, or will non-QB players continue to watch from the sidelines as quarterbacks cash in?