Jerry Jones is a PR genius! Amidst speculations about Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb’s contract extension, the Dallas Cowboys owner finally got frustrated and broke the silence. However, if you think that Jerry Jones is succumbing to the outside pressure, think again. We might have been falling for his tricks all along.

The billionaire owner of the team recently did a presser and finally spoke his mind. In fact, he thinks that the media doesn’t give him enough credit for keeping the Dallas Cowboys relevant, even after years of successful campaigning and the Cowboys being the richest team in any sport’s history. Jon Machota of The Athletic made sure to bring Jones’ comments to the light of day.

“I’m just gonna say this to y’all, give me some credit, OK? You don’t think I’m good with numbers? You think I know how to add and subtract? Do I know how to talk? And sell? I realize all the criticism and I understand it. As a matter of fact, I try to stir it up. And I have since I got here. That’s good. Be relevant. It works,” said Machota’s post, highlighting Jerry Jones’ comments to the media.

If relevancy is what Jerry Jones is looking for in this case, he’s got it. Prescott and Lamb’s contract situation has been up in the air for a while now. For months on end, there have been talks about Dak Prescott’s potential contract extension. It’s a common pattern now. Jones says something hopeful and poof! There’s nothing after that.

Speaking about addition and subtraction, it’s imperative to take a look at the Cowboys cap situation right now. The Dallas team incurred $6.04 million in dead cap money after they traded Ezekiel Elliott to the New England Patriots in the 2023 season. The running back signed a 6-year $90 million deal with the Dallas Cowboys (2019-2026), per Spotrac. But before the contract even expired, Ezekiel got released from the Cowboys and signed a 1-year deal with the Pats.

While we’re on the topic of dead cap and salvaging money, you should know that the Cowboys parted ways with 5 of their regular starters. RB Tony Pollard (to Titans), LT Tyron Smith (to Jets), center Tyler Biadasz (to Commanders), DE Dorance Armstrong (Commanders) and DT Jonathan Hankins to the Seattle Seahawks. After all the releases and trades, the Cowboys still have $16.02 million in dead money in 2024.

Obviously, it might have been done to save some money, but since Jones talked about crunching numbers, we can’t help but think about just one thing.

Dallas Cowboys at the bottom of the draft race

The Dallas Cowboys’ spending have been abysmally low in the 2024 off season. That’s also one of the reasons why Jerry Jones is being criticized for, now. The Cowboys spend $13.7 million this off season on free agency signings. The astonishing thing about all this is that even the New Orleans Saints have spent more than the Cowboys this off season. The Saints spent $32.2 million in the off season!

Per Spotrac, Prescott carries a cap hit of $55.1 million this year, while CeeDee Lamb carries a cap hit of $17.9 million this year. Now, if Prescott were to sign an extension this time, it’s slated to be around $55-$60 million in a year (average salary). On the other hand, CeeDee Lamb is no stranger to possessing an elite talent. Taking risky catches and making flashy plays comes at a premium and that premium will be around $35 million a year.

In April, the Dallas Cowboys owner shared his thoughts about the cap situation that his team is in right now. He’s big on spending his money wisely and doesn’t want to regret his decisions later. If Prescott and Lamb were to get paid at the same time, the team will easily incur $400 million or more in dues over the coming five or six years. For Jones, it might even be 10 years before he recovers from a half a billion-dollar setback.

“I think our structure and our involvement at every level that we are in our process of getting personnel is ideal for making good decisions. I know what it’s like to make a mistake because I’m going to be living with it 10 years from now. I’m not just in here for a five-year session at GM and then gone. I know what it’s like to have to live with how you’re doing that,” said Jones reflecting on his “all in” approach.

He further pointed out, “Sometimes you look at your account and you’re loaded with money in there that day, but you know you’ve incurred bills that have three times the bills that you have money in your account, but that day it looks like you got a lot of money. Well, you have to be disciplined about spending what’s in your account if you know you got all these bills.”

While Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb are the talk of the town these days, there’s one man whose name doesn’t get associated with this situation too often. That man is the Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy, who’s also in his last year with the Cowboys. But the billionaire Jones thinks McCarthy is “qualified” to continue to keep being the Dallas HC.

Just a few hours ago, Jones made a statement about McCarthy saying, “Mike has shown me that he’s qualified and he is excellent,” and “He’s shown me that he can be our coach for years to come. And he sits next to me in the draft, and I call on him a lot. And if you can’t get along with Mike McCarthy, you can’t get along.”

As the Cowboys flew to Oxnard to start their training camp, CeeDee Lamb didn’t board the flight. The cost of missing training is about $40k each day but Lamb might be able to afford that or get the fines rescinded since he’s on a rookie contract. However, he was seen working out in Houston. Per Jane Slater, Lamb looks bigger, faster and more explosive. About his contract situation, the receiver addressed, “It just has to make sense.”