Ambiguity works in business but NOT as an NFL GM

[Bobhaze]

If there was one word in the annual non-sensical scrabble word salad from our owner/president/GM/faceofthefranchise yesterday it was “Ambiguity”. Maybe we will maybe we won’t. Who knows what’s going to happen. Etc, etc. We’ve been hearing Jerry brave about his comfort with that word for decades. The same decades we’ve been waiting for something more than a wild card win.

Main point here: Ambiguity works well for business leaders. It does NOT work well for GMs of football teams.
Why ambiguity is bad for a GM:

• Effective GMs- the ones winning playoff games consistently - do their homework and know EXACTLY what they want to do going into an off-season. You know who you want to sign, for how much, and when the deadline is to get it done. Have a plan and execute it.
• In the layout of the NFL contractual landscape, waiting is losing. Especially if you want to save money. We already know what Cedee Lamb will cost. Nothing less than $35 mil per. Period. No ambiguity there.
• If you’re NOT SURE you like your head coach, then you don’t like him enough. Fire him rather than wasting a season with someone you are lukewarm about. Same for your starting QB, and every other key position on the team.

KEY IDEAS: Do your research, know what you want and then do it. If you aren't sure you like your HC or your starting QB, or any other “expensive” or key ingredient to your team, you’ve already made your decision.

Ambiguity is cancerous to a football team that wants to win a championship. We head into the 2024 season with a GM that isn’t sure he likes the HC, the QB, maybe the team’s best offensive weapon and WR or his uber-talented 25 year old defensive star.

Thats fine if you want to get rid of all of them. It’s just that that decision should have already been made. There is nothing to be ambiguous about. Unless you are comfortable throwing away whole seasons.

 

[MoistMayonnaise]

You nailed it Bob. When jerry says "ambiguity" it means he doesn't know or have a plan.

 

[fivetwos]

Jerry figures people perform better with their backs to the wall.

Problem is, no one’s back is to the wall.

 

[Bobhaze]

Jerry figures people perform better with their backs to the wall.

Problem is, no one’s back is to the wall.

And HIS back is never against the wall.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

Jerry figures people perform better with their backs to the wall.

Problem is, no one’s back is to the wall.

Nobody's back is against the wall when they know they can leave and someone else will give them the money. It really isn't that special to be a Dallas Cowboy anymore.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Ambiguity is cancerous to a football team that wants to win a championship. We head into the 2024 season with a GM that isn’t sure he likes the HC, the QB, maybe the team’s best offensive weapon and WR or his uber-talented 25 year old defensive star.

 

[Tabascocat]

Dallas doesn’t have a GM who can be held accountable for failure. Combine that with incompetence of building a team and we get three decades of failure.

 

[maryquality]

I totally agree with you @Bobhaze . Would really love to have a GM with accountability. Maybe Santa will be good to me this year.

 

[fivetwos]

Jerry’s ego trip has to run its course.

It won’t be that much longer. The comments are getting worse each time and that will continue. Watch and see.

 

[Bobhaze]

Jerry’s ego trip has to run its course.

It won’t be that much longer. The comments are getting worse each time and that will continue. Watch and see.

I think we fans have become like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot. We are so used to this constant nonsense coming from the GM/owner we just see it as normal.

Imagine a GM in this league having to deal with multiple public trials about a fun baby he fathered 30 years ago. Trials that did not allow him to get to TC on time. It would be big news and perhaps cost someone their job. Especially if that GM got blown out at home to a 7 seed last January.

 

[zrinkill]

Jerry’s ego trip has to run its course.

It won’t be that much longer. The comments are getting worse each time and that will continue. Watch and see.

God I hope so ........ his ego is the only thing you can hurt him with to force change ........ hopefully the crowds will start booing him every time he shows his plastic face, instead of asking for autographs.

 

[stiletto]

I actually think this is the most we've seen Jerry change since he brought in Parcells. Not paying ridiculous overpriced/overrated players is a good idea, actually.. let them win some playoff games to get their $$... we'll see how that works out.

 

[jazzcat22]

I am one of the few that still does not see what is wrong by allowing MM coach his final year of his contract.

What are owners supposed to do, extend the HC every time he has one year left on his contract.
what if he gave him a 2 year extension or longer. Then they fail Then fans will be on him for keeping him. Why would an owner throw away money if he were to extend him, then fire him.

Let him play out the contract as he did with Garrett. Then actually he would not be fired. His contract ended. And Jerry decides to go in another direction.

 

[Flamma]

If there was one word in the annual non-sensical scrabble word salad from our owner/president/GM/faceofthefranchise yesterday it was “Ambiguity”. Maybe we will maybe we won’t. Who knows what’s going to happen. Etc, etc. We’ve been hearing Jerry brave about his comfort with that word for decades. The same decades we’ve been waiting for something more than a wild card win.

Main point here: Ambiguity works well for business leaders. It does NOT work well for GMs of football teams.
Why ambiguity is bad for a GM:

• Effective GMs- the ones winning playoff games consistently - do their homework and know EXACTLY what they want to do going into an off-season. You know who you want to sign, for how much, and when the deadline is to get it done. Have a plan and execute it.
• In the layout of the NFL contractual landscape, waiting is losing. Especially if you want to save money. We already know what Cedee Lamb will cost. Nothing less than $35 mil per. Period. No ambiguity there.
• If you’re NOT SURE you like your head coach, then you don’t like him enough. Fire him rather than wasting a season with someone you are lukewarm about. Same for your starting QB, and every other key position on the team.

KEY IDEAS: Do your research, know what you want and then do it. If you aren't sure you like your HC or your starting QB, or any other “expensive” or key ingredient to your team, you’ve already made your decision.

Ambiguity is cancerous to a football team that wants to win a championship. We head into the 2024 season with a GM that isn’t sure he likes the HC, the QB, maybe the team’s best offensive weapon and WR or his uber-talented 25 year old defensive star.

Thats fine if you want to get rid of all of them. It’s just that that decision should have already been made. There is nothing to be ambiguous about. Unless you are comfortable throwing away whole seasons.

If this team was only about winning, they would supplement the roster with free agents. Signing Henry or Barkley is something Jerry would have done decades ago. It's not what they do now. Their current standard operating procedure is not serious about being a SB contender.

 

[Bobhaze]

I am one of the few that still does not see what is wrong by allowing MM coach his final year of his contract.

What are owners supposed to do, extend the HC every time he has one year left on his contract.
what if he gave him a 2 year extension or longer. Then they fail Then fans will be on him for keeping him. Why would an owner throw away money if he were to extend him, then fire him.

Let him play out the contract as he did with Garrett. Then actually he would not be fired. His contract ended. And Jerry decides to go in another direction.

This is a perfect example of what works in the business world doesn’t always work in sports. Almost all pro sports organizations don’t leave a coach hanging in a “prove it” year. If you think he’s a good HC, extend him. If you aren’t sure, fire him. The odds of this “motivating” anyone to play or coach better is slim to none. Believing in someone enough to extend them is motivating. Acting ambiguous is detrimental to team confidence.

Leaving a HC in the last year of his deal as a win/lose proposition has been tried 3 other times in the Jerry era. Wade in 2010, Garrett in 2014 and Garrett again in 2019. In two of those 3 situations the Cowboys did not make the playoffs. I don’t like those odds.

The reason why most sane organizations don’t put their HC in this position is it sends the wrong message to the wrong people. If you are “ambiguous“ about who/what you want, you’ve already made a bad decision.

 

[Bullflop]

Jerry just likes to use the word ambiguity -- it makes him feel smart. DUH, look at me, I'm ambiguous!! Yuck, yuck!

 

[CowboyFrog]

This is a perfect example of what works in the business world doesn’t always work in sports. Almost all pro sports organizations don’t leave a coach hanging in a “prove it” year. If you think he’s a good HC, extend him. If you aren’t sure, fire him. The odds of this “motivating” anyone to play or coach better is slim to none. Believing in someone enough to extend them is motivating. Acting ambiguous is detrimental to team confidence.

Leaving a HC in the last year of his deal as a win/lose proposition has been tried 3 other times in the Jerry era. Wade in 2010, Garrett in 2024 and Garrett again in 2019. In two of those 3 situations the Cowboys did not make the playoffs. I don’t like those odds.

The reason why most sane organizations don’t put their HC in this position is it sends the wrong message to the wrong people. If you are “ambiguous“ about who/what you want, you’ve already made a bad decision.

You see it for what it is, this isnt Jerry changing this is Jerry not having anymore cards to play and his options are few and he has/had no plan for this. Who knows what 2025 will bring but the one thing it will not bring is a GM who has to take accountablitiy for 2024..AND thats what this Franchise desperatley needs.

 

[Bobhaze]

Jerry just likes to use the word ambiguity -- it makes him feel smart. DUH, look at me, I'm ambiguous!! Yuck, yuck!

When it comes to effectively managing an NFL roster it makes him look incompetent.

 

[ShortRound]

Who is telling the owner of the richest sports franchise on planet earth, he's doing it wrong?

We're gonna have to wait for any hope of change.

 

[Bobhaze]

Who is telling the owner of the richest sports franchise on planet earth, he's doing it wrong?

We're gonna have to wait for any hope of change.

Well many of us on here are telling him, lol. But he surrounds himself with an entourage of sycophants and suck ups. It’s a job requirement. Jerry would rather lose than not do things the way he wants. So when he says he would “do anything to win a Super Bowl again”, he’s lying.