T. O.: Is winning worth the risk for Cowboys?
Friday, March 17, 2006 10:02 AM CST
By JOHNNY GREEN
Sports Director
When it comes to sports. winning is like living: It beats the heck out of the alternative.
No one likes to lose, although some are able to accept losing more gracefully than others. At the opposite end of the spectrum are those who absolutely refuse to view losing as an option. It eats at them like a cancer, and the only cure is ultimate victory.
I’m afraid Jerry Jones fits in the latter category—afraid because I’m not sure at what lengths the Dallas Cowboys owner will go to bring another Super Bowl championship back to Texas.
For a decade now Jones has lived with the popular opinion that Jimmy Johnson was more of a major player in bringing three world titles to Dallas in the 1990s than the owner himself. That the third was accomplished with Barry Switzer on the coaching sidelines meant little to those who felt the last Dallas championship (1996) was a by-product of the infamous Herschel Walker trade engineered by Johnson years before.
While Johnson went on to bigger and better things—becoming a studio star for FOX Television’s NFL pre-game show on Sundays—Jones has been unable to keep the proud Cowboys franchise from slipping into mediocrity.
Not that he hasn’t tried just about everything, including putting his ego aside in order to bring future Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells on board, and allowing him to make decisions only Johnson was privileged to as a head coach during the Jones regime.
So far, even that hasn’t worked. Although he turned a team that had gone 5-11 three consecutive seasons into a 10-6 postseason squad in his first season (2003), has not been able to get the Cowboys back to the playoffs the last two years.
With a new stadium in the works, Jones would like nothing better than to bring a winner to the team’s new Arlington digs, and the new salary cap agreement just might enable him to do that. While I’ve never understood all I know about the cap, the gist seems to be that the rich, which includes Jones, got richer during the recently-completed Collective Bargain Agreement with the players.
The CBA extension brought with it a new salary-cap formula that boosted it from $85.5 million in 2005 to $102 million for 2006 and $109 million for 2007.
But like other owners who weren’t sure of the salary cap’s immediate future, Jones was already busy clearing cap space just in case. He released Pro Bowl defensive lineman La’Roi Glover before the agreement was signed, and Tuesday let go his leading receiver, Keyshawn Johnson, rather than pay him a $1 million bonus due on that day. He also let tight end Dan Campbell get away to the Lions, although his absence probably won’t have much effect on the Cowboys’ cap.
If rumors are to be believed, there is a method to Jones’ madness. On the same day Johnson was given his walking papers, wide receiver Terrell Owens was released by the Philadelphia Eagles, who opted not to pay T.O. the $5 million bonus owed him if he was still on the roster Tuesday.
Dallas is counted as one of the favorites among a handful of teams, who are willing to take a gamble on the recalcitrant Owens, who is without question a difference maker on the field. The numbers—101 career touchdowns, 11 100-yard games the last two seasons—bear that out as does his Super Bowl performance on a gimpy ankle two years ago.
However, Owens’ mouth ran faster off the field than his legs did on it. Through bumbling agent Drew Rosenhous, Owens talked his way out of Philadelphia and the last five years of a seven-year, $48 million contract. Do the math: He wasn’t satisfied with nearly $7 million a year.
Although free agency has only been in effect a few days, Jones has already seen arch rival and Redskins owner Daniel Snyder fork over a combined $90 million for free agents Antwan Randle El, Adam Archuleta and Andre Carter, who, as a group, would probably not equal the impact Owens would have on a team.
But before Jones gambles the franchise on a brilliant player—but unbalanced person—who once desecrated the midfield star at Texas Stadium, I would hope he considers his other options such as re-signing a much-cheaper, but steady receiver Johnson or going after unhappy Green Bay receiver Javon Walker. Patrick Crayton, the Cowboys’ No. 3 receiver behind Johnson and Terry Glenn in 2005, offers another alternative.
None can come close to matching the talent of Owens, and he no doubt would give Jones and the Cowboys a better chance of winning than any two of the others combined. Yet if he comes to Dallas and has an all-pro type year, there’s no guarantee Owens won’t pull the same divisive trick on the Cowboys that he did on the Eagles.
I’m all for winning, but not at any price. As for Terrell Owens, well, his price tag is a little too steep for my liking. And I don’t necessarily mean money.
By JOHNNY GREEN
Sports Director
When it comes to sports. winning is like living: It beats the heck out of the alternative.
No one likes to lose, although some are able to accept losing more gracefully than others. At the opposite end of the spectrum are those who absolutely refuse to view losing as an option. It eats at them like a cancer, and the only cure is ultimate victory.
I’m afraid Jerry Jones fits in the latter category—afraid because I’m not sure at what lengths the Dallas Cowboys owner will go to bring another Super Bowl championship back to Texas.
For a decade now Jones has lived with the popular opinion that Jimmy Johnson was more of a major player in bringing three world titles to Dallas in the 1990s than the owner himself. That the third was accomplished with Barry Switzer on the coaching sidelines meant little to those who felt the last Dallas championship (1996) was a by-product of the infamous Herschel Walker trade engineered by Johnson years before.
While Johnson went on to bigger and better things—becoming a studio star for FOX Television’s NFL pre-game show on Sundays—Jones has been unable to keep the proud Cowboys franchise from slipping into mediocrity.
Not that he hasn’t tried just about everything, including putting his ego aside in order to bring future Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells on board, and allowing him to make decisions only Johnson was privileged to as a head coach during the Jones regime.
So far, even that hasn’t worked. Although he turned a team that had gone 5-11 three consecutive seasons into a 10-6 postseason squad in his first season (2003), has not been able to get the Cowboys back to the playoffs the last two years.
With a new stadium in the works, Jones would like nothing better than to bring a winner to the team’s new Arlington digs, and the new salary cap agreement just might enable him to do that. While I’ve never understood all I know about the cap, the gist seems to be that the rich, which includes Jones, got richer during the recently-completed Collective Bargain Agreement with the players.
The CBA extension brought with it a new salary-cap formula that boosted it from $85.5 million in 2005 to $102 million for 2006 and $109 million for 2007.
But like other owners who weren’t sure of the salary cap’s immediate future, Jones was already busy clearing cap space just in case. He released Pro Bowl defensive lineman La’Roi Glover before the agreement was signed, and Tuesday let go his leading receiver, Keyshawn Johnson, rather than pay him a $1 million bonus due on that day. He also let tight end Dan Campbell get away to the Lions, although his absence probably won’t have much effect on the Cowboys’ cap.
If rumors are to be believed, there is a method to Jones’ madness. On the same day Johnson was given his walking papers, wide receiver Terrell Owens was released by the Philadelphia Eagles, who opted not to pay T.O. the $5 million bonus owed him if he was still on the roster Tuesday.
Dallas is counted as one of the favorites among a handful of teams, who are willing to take a gamble on the recalcitrant Owens, who is without question a difference maker on the field. The numbers—101 career touchdowns, 11 100-yard games the last two seasons—bear that out as does his Super Bowl performance on a gimpy ankle two years ago.
However, Owens’ mouth ran faster off the field than his legs did on it. Through bumbling agent Drew Rosenhous, Owens talked his way out of Philadelphia and the last five years of a seven-year, $48 million contract. Do the math: He wasn’t satisfied with nearly $7 million a year.
Although free agency has only been in effect a few days, Jones has already seen arch rival and Redskins owner Daniel Snyder fork over a combined $90 million for free agents Antwan Randle El, Adam Archuleta and Andre Carter, who, as a group, would probably not equal the impact Owens would have on a team.
But before Jones gambles the franchise on a brilliant player—but unbalanced person—who once desecrated the midfield star at Texas Stadium, I would hope he considers his other options such as re-signing a much-cheaper, but steady receiver Johnson or going after unhappy Green Bay receiver Javon Walker. Patrick Crayton, the Cowboys’ No. 3 receiver behind Johnson and Terry Glenn in 2005, offers another alternative.
None can come close to matching the talent of Owens, and he no doubt would give Jones and the Cowboys a better chance of winning than any two of the others combined. Yet if he comes to Dallas and has an all-pro type year, there’s no guarantee Owens won’t pull the same divisive trick on the Cowboys that he did on the Eagles.
I’m all for winning, but not at any price. As for Terrell Owens, well, his price tag is a little too steep for my liking. And I don’t necessarily mean money.
posted by The Gryphon at 8:20 AM
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