Cowboys open training camp more concerned with playoff success than contract uncertainty
OXNARD, Calif. — Owner Jerry Jones knows the situation the Dallas Cowboys find themselves in as training camp begins Thursday.
Quarterback Dak Prescott enters the final year of his contract. Receiver CeeDee Lamb holds firmlooking for a new contract. Linebacker Micah Parsons is also in line for a new contract. at one point.
“Nobody feels sorry for themselves,” Jones said. “I actually want to tell you how blessed we are to be able to wake up in the morning and have these problems. I wouldn’t take anything for it. I’m emboldened, it gives me courage to have these problems.”
Despite the sense of uncertainty surrounding the team, which includes Head coach Mike McCarthy enters the final year of his contractJones wasn’t worried as their annual training camp in Southern California approached.
Instead, Jones is focused on what will happen at the end of the upcoming season, which he hopes will see the Cowboys win the Super Bowl for the first time since the end of the 1995 season.
“I’m more interested in winning the award for the best way to end the season than I am in showing up to camp with my house in order,” he said.
Even with that solid core, playoff success has remained elusive since they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy for the third time in four years on Jan. 28, 1996.
Despite reaching the playoffs the past three seasons, the Cowboys have only one win in that span and have not reached the NFC Championship Game. The most recent playoff blow was a 48-32 home loss to the Green Bay Packers in an NFC wild-card game where Dallas trailed 27-0 in the first half.
Stephen Jones described the continued playoff failures as “the elephant in the room.” Prescott fumed when asked how last season ended.
“We know it,” Stephen Jones said. “Our fans know it. Everybody knows it. These players know it, Mike knows it, his staff knows it. … We have to take the next step. And we haven’t, and until we do, there’s going to be frustration.”
The specter of another playoff exit was treated more seriously than the contract issue. Stephen Jones said he had productive conversations with Prescott and Lamb’s agents.
Jerry Jones noted numerous contract disputes throughout the league. Players compared Lamb’s refusal to that of point guard Zack Martin last year, when he received a revised contract after missing three weeks of camp and the preseason opener.
Even Prescott, who led the league with 36 touchdown passes, said he entered this season with a sense of relief, knowing he’ll be well compensated wherever he plays next.
“Of course I want to be here,” Prescott said. “I want to be here, but when you look at all the great quarterbacks I’ve seen play for other teams, I don’t want to be afraid of that. It might be a reality for me one day. It might not be my decision. So that’s the freedom that I have.”
Jones was optimistic that Prescott’s ninth season with the Cowboys wouldn’t be his last before acknowledging the uncertainty ahead.
“Believe it or not, in my life I’ve had a lot of things I wanted but couldn’t get because I couldn’t afford them,” Jones said. “Have I learned to live with that in 80-something years? I bet I have, and life goes on.”
___
