No executive in the NFL is better at selling hope and gaslighting their fan base than Jerry Jones. The shtick is so fossilized at this point that a lot of Dallas Cowboys fans have learned to tune him out. Even Dak Prescott admitted that he's stopped listening to what Jones tells the media.
It's only a matter of time until Jones says something that gets the people talking. However, he has kept a shockingly low profile since the 2025 season ended. Even at the end-of-season press conference, the classic Jerry rambling not once came across as headline-farming.
And after ESPN's Todd Archer revealed that the Cowboys fined George Pickens multiple times this past season, Jones laughed it off to the Dallas Morning News. Suffice it to say that would not have happened this time last year during the Micah Parsons negotiations.
“I’ve missed a few myself,” Jones joked. “Something came up.”
The Dallas Cowboys may be getting a different version of Jerry Jones
Jones said that being late to meetings is "forgivable" as long as Pickens cares about his teammates, and he believes he does.
The 83-year-old typically doesn't squander the opportunity when he's teed up like that. He would have been well within his rights to critique Pickens' purported tardiness, but he looked the other way and turned the spotlight on himself.
Sure, that last part is nothing new. But Cowboys fans have lost count of how many times Jones has thrown shade at players through the media. Oftentimes, it's happened right before or during a contract negotiation. And the shade isn't always a direct heave.
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The Parsons saga alone offered countless examples, like when Jones claimed to forget the name of Parsons' agent, David Mulugheta. That obviously didn't help smooth things over.
Now-former Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs was publicly criticized multiple times last offseason for rehabbing away from the team’s facility. Jones questioned Diggs’ leadership and strongly implied he didn’t approach his ACL rehab with the right mindset.
Even Dak Prescott has caught the occasional stray. While Prescott hasn't put a foot wrong since he was drafted 10 years ago, Jones has used Prescott's contract as a crutch an untold number of times to explain why he doesn't spend money in free agency.
The fact that Jones completely ignored the Pickens bait aligns with how he's behaved this offseason so far. That could change on a dime if contract talks stall, but Cowboys fans may be witnessing a different version of Jerry in 2026.
It's too early to say for sure, but the tea leaves are hard to ignore.