Did you believe him?
Jerry Jones teased the NFL universe for several days before the league’s trade deadline Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET in classic, look-at-me fashion that captivated the masses.
Armed with draft capital acquired a few weeks ago in dealing star pass-rusher Micah Parsons to the Packers, the Dallas Cowboys owner pledged to be aggressive on the market.
Typical Jerry. Fan the flames of NFL hype. Give the people what they want.
Then Jones, bullish on the prospects of tapping into an estimated $100 billion in natural gas reserves, essentially told The Wall Street Journal how fixing the woeful Cowboys defense took a back seat to his prolific oil and gas exploration venture.
Typical Jerry. He knew how that would sound – and sell! – as something cute-outlandish to a segment of that loyal Cowboys fan base. And it would generate attention. Never mind that it wasn’t either-or, efforts towards both objectives were possible. Regardless, his quote went viral as headlines and social media posts screamed.
Jones then told Stephen A. Smith that a trade was essentially done. No details. More headlines. Then he met with the media throng after Monday night’s loss against Arizona and walked back his trade-is-imminent posture. More buzz.
Turns out that Jones was hardly bluffing. The Cowboys (3-5-1) made a huge deal with the New York Jets Tuesday and landed all-pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams shortly after obtaining linebacker Logan Wilson from the Bengals.
Typical Jerry. He managed to make a splash, although it’s not-so-typical, too, because usually Jerry The GM doesn’t cash in at the trade deadline.
Yet Jones, going on three decades since Dallas’ last Super Bowl berth, is surely flowing with style points this time. Williams, 27, is absolutely one of the NFL’s emerging defensive stars, and Jones got him for a 2027 first-round pick, a second-round pick next spring and, as a bonus, managed to unload a first-round bust, defensive tackle Mazi Smith, on the Jets.
Maybe Williams turns out to be the game-changer that defensive end Charles Haley was for the Cowboys teams in the 1990s that won three Super Bowl. Until it happens, though, it’s TBD, while adding more hope to the hype.
The Jets, with a first-year GM in Darren Mougey aligned with first-year coach Aaron Glenn, deserve some second-guessing after trading Williams and Sauce Gardner, the all-pro cornerback. Most teams try to build with premium players at premium positions, but the Jets just traded two away to stockpile premium picks – with no guarantees they will pick similar impact players – for a rebuild.
Hey, Jones can relate. He traded Parsons, whom the Cheeseheads envision as the missing piece to a Super Bowl.
Wilson, meanwhile, obtained for a seventh-round pick, fell out of favor and was benched in Cincinnati. A change of scenery can’t hurt. He goes from one pitiful defense to another, enlisted to help shore up a 29th-ranked run defense.
It was fitting that Jones – a proud wheeler-dealer flanked by his son, Stephen, the team’s COO, and Will McClay, VP-Personnel – got into the action amid the flurry of activity on the market. It used to be that nothing-to-very-little happened when the earlier NFL trade deadline approached. In 2023, though, team owners voted to push the deadline beyond Week 9, the midseason mark. It’s no coincidence that 25 players were traded in-season this year, reportedly the most in 25 years.
Still, how Jones does it is such a contrast to the methods of the league’s most accomplished full-time GMs. Although speculation about suitors and trade targets has persisted for weeks, Chris Ballard (Colts), John Schneider (Seahawks), Mickey Loomis (Saints) and Howie Roseman (Eagles), among others, saw no need to hype the deadline.
Of course, Jones would take that as a compliment. He’s different. And he generates buzz.
I’m reminded of this by a flashback: It’s Week 2 and I’m sitting on an airplane getting ready to fly to Kansas City. There are way too many Eagles fans on the flight, and they are trash-talking people wearing Chiefs paraphernalia.
Then one of the Philly fans blurts out: “Jerry Jones is the best GM in Eagles history!”
Talk about creating buzz. Jones’ name came up out of the blue, the reference apparently having more to do with how his decision to trade Parsons helped the defending Super Bowl champs by dealing away an impact player from the Cowboys.
Still, Roseman’s value to the Eagles is immense, which is not only reflected by the two Super Bowl championship teams he assembled. Roseman has been on a tear over the past week, swinging three trades in six days to address critical needs.
Jaelan Phillips, the edge rusher from the Dolphins, could be an answer to bolster the pass rush, while cornerbacks Jaire Alexander (Ravens) and Michael Carter (Jets) are needed to shore up the back end. Alexander is particularly interesting when considering that it wasn’t too long ago that he was considered one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks.
Typically, Roseman was aggressive in addressing issues with his team. And typically, he saw no need to go full blast with his intentions. Different folks, different strokes.
No, Jerry never spilled the tea on the specific players he was poised to obtain in the trades. But he sure made it good theatre.
And after his drilling for championships has resulted in so many dry holes the past three decades, imagine the buzz if Jerry hits on a gusher.
Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on X: @JarrettBell