There’s been a lot of talk about whether the Dallas Cowboys would be better off if Jerry Jones relinquished his role as general manager. We can all collectively end those discussions.
Jones confirmed that he will not step down as general manager as long as he owns the Cowboys on his weekly radio appearance on 105.3 The Fan. That was raised into question when Bob Costas asked Jones before Sunday Night Football’s telecast whether Jones the owner would have fired Jones the general manager by now, given Dallas’ lack of recent success. Jones answered, “I think so.”
Jones clarified that response on Tuesday.
“We are not structured that way. We didn’t structure it that way with my ownership,” said Jones. “There’s no way that I would be involved here and not be the final decision-maker on something as important as players, and that is a key area. That’s never been anybody’s misunderstanding. It’s been a debated thing, but it’s just not going to happen.”
The Cowboys are 3-5 in 2012, and haven’t made the playoffs since 2009. The team has had no problem firing coaches — Dallas has had five head coaches since 1997.
It seems as though Jones’ managing tactics won’t be changing anytime soon either.
“It’s real clear. I was asked the question, ‘If you were an owner and you had a general manager, would you make a change?’ Under those circumstances I speculated that I would probably have made a change, but that’s not our situation,” said Jones. “To change, I’d have to change myself. People don’t do that.”
It’s long been said that Jones may have too much power in Dallas as both the owner and general manager. Jones reportedly got angry when he saw some of that power dissipate on Sunday night when he was locked out of Dallas’ locker room following their loss to the undefeated Falcons. Jones may not be willing to give up his job as final decision-maker, but it’s clear that something has to change in Dallas.
