I honestly believe the answer is no. Never, in fact. Jones identifies himself with the Dallas Cowboys in such a way that stepping down from the GM position would be like cutting his own heart out of his chest. And as the owner the team, he simply doesn’t have to do it. Like a spoiled child who refuses to share his toys with others, Jones’ immense selfish love for the franchise may be exactly what’s killing it. His track record of bad trades, terrible player drafts, and mismanagement of the salary cap would have been enough to have any GM in the league fired by now. (more…)

Polian called the idea of an expanded season “fait accompli” — a done deal.

The plan would reduce the preseason to two games and the regular season to 18. Many are concerned that a shortened preseason will reduce time to evaluate players, while an expanded regular season creates a risk of more injury.

League owners and officials couldn’t care less. Their decision to adopt an expanded season comes down to one thing . . . money.

An 18-game regular season is completely unnecessary. If anything, the result of an expanded season would be a watered down product near the end of the year. It would be likely that more injuries would occur and teams would be without their star players down the playoff stretch.

Just look at this year’s version of the Dallas Cowboys. We are only three weeks into the season and have already seen starters Jason Witten, Kyle Kosier, Marc Colombo, and rookie Dez Bryant be hampered by injury.

Of course football is a violent game and the there is no way to stop injuries from happening, but there is no reason to put the players at even more risk just to fatten a few of the bosses wallets.

What say you, Cowboys Nation? Are you for or against an expanded regular season?

It does beg the question, “Why isn’t Jerry Jones restructuring deals to pay his top talent most of their money in the 2010 season with the remaining years, 2011 through 2015, being extremely cap friendly?”  Here are a few answers with only one of them being the real answer.

1.  Jones is out of money.  Building a 1.3 billion dollar stadium certainly can take a chunk out of one’s pocket book.  Jones may be cash poor, but he’s not credit poor.  If he needed a few million to restructure contracts, you would see bankers clamoring to give Jones the deal.  Can you think of a safer credit risk than Jones considering the revenue streams that flood Cowboys Stadium?

2.  Jones is concerned about injury risks.  Why pay Romo 90% of his remaining contract in 2010 when he is just as susceptible to a career ending injury regardless of his pay schedule.  There may be some merit to this claim.  Miles Austin certainly would not be as fast if he were to tear up both of his knees.

3.  Jones is concerned about holdouts from players who are making the league minimum.  Simply look at the Darrelle Revis situation in New York.  He is scheduled to receive in his base salary $1 million for the 2010 season.  Players look at their checks and don’t have any recollection of their signing bonus.  Additionally, you may have agents telling their client that if they get cut while still being productive, they can get another BIG contract while they are still in their prime.  Terrell Owens squirmed his way out of a multi-year deal with the Eagles.  It’s happened before, and it could happen again.

4.  Jones is too busy drinking and philandering  to bother with contract negotiations.  There aren’t many better ways for a billionaire to spend his time.  Heck, if you watched The Jerry Springer Show once, you don’t even have to have a checking account.

5.  The 2010 season isn’t uncapped.  This is the real reason.  The collective bargaining agreement is in flux.  The owners aren’t simply fighting with the players union, they are fighting amongst themselves.  According to Jim Irsay:

Irsay said Manning’s agent, Tom Condon, and team president Bill Polian have discussed a contract extension, but the biggest obstacle so far has been the lack of a collective bargaining agreement.

“It’s not going to be easy because there’s probably going to be something that goes back and captures something from the uncapped year,” Irsay said, referring to how this year’s deals could affect future salary cap space.

There are simply too many questions that need to be answered before Jones hands out checks like he works for the government.  Will an 18 game schedule automatically increase current player salaries by 12.5%?  Will the money spent over an arbitrary cap value in 2010 affect cap space in 2011 and on?  Will the length of contracts be limited to terms of years?

While certain people would love to believe that Jones is drunk, broke, and scared out of his mind, the fact is that Jones is cautious.  He’s not cheap anymore, low-balling Emmitt Smith on his contract or trying to recoup money from Jimmy Smith for a non-related football issue.  While I have my issues with Jones, I believe a wait and see approach is the smart approach to take for the 2010 season.