Rest assured, Dallas Cowboys fans … someone in the front office gets it.
Amid promises of being “all in” from his father and team owner Jerry, Cowboys CEO Stephen Jones took a minute from Senior Bowl prep to address what his franchise is going up against, namely the frustrations of fans who are about to take in their 28th consecutive Super Bowl without the Pokes’ participation.
“We have had three good years of 12-5 and we have had major disappointments in the postseason,” Stephen said. “Until we do something about it, which is go have another great year and have success in the playoffs, then that’s going to be there. There’s no way they’re going to explicitly trust you until you get it done.”
To that point, Dallas has the second-best regular-season record over the past three years at 36-15. But, to Jones’ point, they’ve won only a single playoff game in that span, a 2022-23 Wild Card round victory over a Tampa Bay group with a losing record. In a macabre sense of irony, Dallas is sandwiched in the top three by the next Super Bowl participants Kansas City and San Francisco.
Of the top seven (respectively followed by Buffalo, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Baltimore), Dallas is the only team that has not been in a conference title game. Jones is not blind to the one thing that separates Dallas from its standings brethren.
“Someone trusts Tom Brady and the Patriots if they’re going to get it done? Yeah. Why? Because they did it year in and year out,” Jones said. “Someone trusts Mahomes and Kansas City, that they’re going to do it? Why? Because they do it, six years in a row they’re in the Championship Game.”
“Until we compete at that level and we get the job done then there’s going to be doubt – and rightfully so.”
Questioners noted that Jones referenced recurring Vince Lombardi Trophy-hoisting quarterbacks in his remarks, leading to a trapping, indirect follow-up over whether Dak Prescott’s continued Cowboys employment is in danger.
The longtime exec didn’t take the bait.
“We love our quarterback,” Jones firmly declared. “It’s well-documented what we think about our quarterback.”