Until Thursday, Jerry Jones’ incompetence was reserved for Netflix.
The documentary “America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys” painted the Cowboys owner in a glowing light, to the point where he continues to laughably take credit for the Herschel Walker trade. The last few episodes gloss over the team’s staggering spiral. They have not been to an NFC Championship Game since 1996.
So, when Jones traded Micah Parsons to the Packers, it made me think of Dick Monfort. This is what happens when an owner functions as the official or quasi-general manager.
The Parsons deal is not as awful as the Rockies shipping future Hall of Famer Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals for a bucket of batting practice balls. Needing Arenado’s contract off the books because of the money lost from no attendance during COVID, the Rockies paid the Cardinals $51 million over time to receive salary relief up front.
The Cowboys could afford Parsons. However, Jones became offended that Parsons wanted his agent involved after Jones felt the pair had a deal. Owners and GMs are not supposed to negotiate with players without representation — a common Jones tactic. He took advantage of Parsons, then became upset when the agent wanted to start from scratch.
In a normal structure, the GM blows a gasket, and the owner steps in and tells him to figure it out. Instead, business became personal, leaving Jones to cede leverage and trade Parsons for 50 cents on the dollar. Don’t brag about getting two first-round picks that will be in the mid-to-late 20s. If the Cowboys truly envisioned moving on from Parsons months ago, as Jones insisted was the case, they should have shopped him before the draft.
Worse, by taking from the Rockies template, the Cowboys affected the Broncos. Hear me out.
The Packers have questions at one cornerback spot, but their weakness was a decaffeinated pass rush. They leaned into coverage last season, allowing only 14 plays of more than 30 yards, second best in the NFL, per ESPN. They ranked fourth in expected points against. Now, they have Parsons, who has put up Hall of Fame sack numbers in his first four years. It is why Green Bay, favored to win its first eight games, is getting talked about as having the NFL’s best defense.
That was an honor reserved for the Broncos. Even worse, Denver will host the Parsons-led Packers defense on Dec. 14.
Thanks, Jerry.
Listen, these arguments all get settled on the field. But this one would not have become a conversation if the Cowboys had a real GM.
Travis hearts Shedeur: Travis Kelce got engaged to Taylor Swift this week. But he also professed his love for Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders on his podcast. “Give the people what they want. The world wants to see him go out there and not only play, but have success. At this point, guys are rooting for him,” Kelce said. Kelce is from Cleveland, thus the interest. But can you imagine how the Chiefs would react if a Browns player campaigned for a K.C. third-stringer to start? It speaks to Kelce’s popularity and how dimly the tight end views the Browns.
Nuggets get love: ESPN is fond of forgetting about the mountain time zone. But not with the Nuggets. ESPN’s NBA insiders picked the Nuggets as the second-best option to win the Western Conference and NBA Finals behind the Oklahoma Thunder. Denver’s offseason makeover was legit, and let’s not discount this: The Nuggets match up better against OKC than anyone else.
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