Stephen Jones On Free Agency

Alexander

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Why 2018’s Power Teams Are Sitting Out 2019 Free Agency
The Cowboys—loaded with young talent that they want to be able to take care off down road—are an example of why last season’s playoff teams have mostly avoided making a free agency splash so far. Why spend big (read: overpay) in what’s seen as a weak year for free agents?
By Albert Breer
March 18, 2019

all the craziness.

It is, quite honestly, what the Jones family has learned, through success and failure, about running a team in the NFL’s salary cap era, now in its 26th year.

“The biggest thing is just that free agency, I just don’t think you can make a living there,” Dallas COO Stephen Jones said over the phone around lunchtime on Sunday. “That’s what we’ve always said. I think you’re overpaying in free agency most of the time. [Free agents] are overvalued, because you’re competing in a market where you’ve got teams that don’t have as many players they have to spend on, have to use cap space on.

“And the other thing is, I don’t think you’re ever one player away. It’s a building process. You’ve got to have some really good quarterbacking to win championships, but you’ve got to put a good team around him. That whole theory that you’re one player away, it’s one that we don’t buy into like you might’ve in the past.”

Here’s the genesis of my conversation with Jones and a handful of other teams over the weekend: I spent some time looking at which teams have and haven’t spent since the market opened in earnest last Monday (and earlier than that on street free agents). What I found was staggering. And it’s so simple that you can really explain it in five words.

Most good teams didn’t spend.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/03/18/f...l&utm_campaign=themmqb&utm_source=twitter.com
----

My big question is why is this argument dumbed down to thinking if you don't go crazy in free agency that you are somehow smart?

There is a thing called a happy medium.

Once you have built the foundation, there can always be a roof added to the top to finish quickly.

People should not get upset that the Cowboys didn't get three or four expensive free agents.

But a well-placed precision strike is not the end of the world either.

The claim made in the article that good teams don't spend is not exactly true.

Teams like New England (Gilmore) and the Rams (Suh) added impact players that aided their cause.

Just call this what it is. Being cheap and thinking you are smarter than everyone else and you can just outwit everyone in April.
 

CATCH17

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Why 2018’s Power Teams Are Sitting Out 2019 Free Agency
The Cowboys—loaded with young talent that they want to be able to take care off down road—are an example of why last season’s playoff teams have mostly avoided making a free agency splash so far. Why spend big (read: overpay) in what’s seen as a weak year for free agents?
By Albert Breer
March 18, 2019

all the craziness.

It is, quite honestly, what the Jones family has learned, through success and failure, about running a team in the NFL’s salary cap era, now in its 26th year.

“The biggest thing is just that free agency, I just don’t think you can make a living there,” Dallas COO Stephen Jones said over the phone around lunchtime on Sunday. “That’s what we’ve always said. I think you’re overpaying in free agency most of the time. [Free agents] are overvalued, because you’re competing in a market where you’ve got teams that don’t have as many players they have to spend on, have to use cap space on.

“And the other thing is, I don’t think you’re ever one player away. It’s a building process. You’ve got to have some really good quarterbacking to win championships, but you’ve got to put a good team around him. That whole theory that you’re one player away, it’s one that we don’t buy into like you might’ve in the past.”

Here’s the genesis of my conversation with Jones and a handful of other teams over the weekend: I spent some time looking at which teams have and haven’t spent since the market opened in earnest last Monday (and earlier than that on street free agents). What I found was staggering. And it’s so simple that you can really explain it in five words.

Most good teams didn’t spend.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/03/18/f...l&utm_campaign=themmqb&utm_source=twitter.com
----

My big question is why is this argument dumbed down to either spending millions on a bunch of players versus precision?

There is a thing called a happy medium.

Once you have built the foundation, there can always be a roof added to the top to finish quickly.

People should not get upset that the Cowboys didn't get three or four expensive free agents.

But a well-placed precision strike is not the end of the world either.

The claim made in the article that good teams don't spend is not exactly true.

Teams like New England (Gilmore) and the Rams (Suh) added impact players that aided their cause.


Good teams are building through free agency and it's translating to Superbowl appearances and trophies. Wake up Stephen Jones.

We can either remain a fringe playoff team year after year or you can open you're wallet.

We have a disadvantage in coaching and the only thing they give us to build on from the previous season is rookies.
 

Sydla

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Why 2018’s Power Teams Are Sitting Out 2019 Free Agency
The Cowboys—loaded with young talent that they want to be able to take care off down road—are an example of why last season’s playoff teams have mostly avoided making a free agency splash so far. Why spend big (read: overpay) in what’s seen as a weak year for free agents?
By Albert Breer
March 18, 2019

all the craziness.

It is, quite honestly, what the Jones family has learned, through success and failure, about running a team in the NFL’s salary cap era, now in its 26th year.

“The biggest thing is just that free agency, I just don’t think you can make a living there,” Dallas COO Stephen Jones said over the phone around lunchtime on Sunday. “That’s what we’ve always said. I think you’re overpaying in free agency most of the time. [Free agents] are overvalued, because you’re competing in a market where you’ve got teams that don’t have as many players they have to spend on, have to use cap space on.

“And the other thing is, I don’t think you’re ever one player away. It’s a building process. You’ve got to have some really good quarterbacking to win championships, but you’ve got to put a good team around him. That whole theory that you’re one player away, it’s one that we don’t buy into like you might’ve in the past.”

Here’s the genesis of my conversation with Jones and a handful of other teams over the weekend: I spent some time looking at which teams have and haven’t spent since the market opened in earnest last Monday (and earlier than that on street free agents). What I found was staggering. And it’s so simple that you can really explain it in five words.

Most good teams didn’t spend.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/03/18/f...l&utm_campaign=themmqb&utm_source=twitter.com
----

My big question is why is this argument dumbed down to thinking if you don't go crazy in free agency that you are somehow smart?

There is a thing called a happy medium.

Once you have built the foundation, there can always be a roof added to the top to finish quickly.

People should not get upset that the Cowboys didn't get three or four expensive free agents.

But a well-placed precision strike is not the end of the world either.

The claim made in the article that good teams don't spend is not exactly true.

Teams like New England (Gilmore) and the Rams (Suh) added impact players that aided their cause.

Just call this what it is. Being cheap and thinking you are smarter than everyone else and you can just outwit everyone in April.

Stephen views FA in two ways - you are either all in or you just pick around the edges.

It's a bizarre way to look at FA.
 

IrishAnto

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Why 2018’s Power Teams Are Sitting Out 2019 Free Agency
The Cowboys—loaded with young talent that they want to be able to take care off down road—are an example of why last season’s playoff teams have mostly avoided making a free agency splash so far. Why spend big (read: overpay) in what’s seen as a weak year for free agents?
By Albert Breer
March 18, 2019

all the craziness.

It is, quite honestly, what the Jones family has learned, through success and failure, about running a team in the NFL’s salary cap era, now in its 26th year.

“The biggest thing is just that free agency, I just don’t think you can make a living there,” Dallas COO Stephen Jones said over the phone around lunchtime on Sunday. “That’s what we’ve always said. I think you’re overpaying in free agency most of the time. [Free agents] are overvalued, because you’re competing in a market where you’ve got teams that don’t have as many players they have to spend on, have to use cap space on.

“And the other thing is, I don’t think you’re ever one player away. It’s a building process. You’ve got to have some really good quarterbacking to win championships, but you’ve got to put a good team around him. That whole theory that you’re one player away, it’s one that we don’t buy into like you might’ve in the past.”

Here’s the genesis of my conversation with Jones and a handful of other teams over the weekend: I spent some time looking at which teams have and haven’t spent since the market opened in earnest last Monday (and earlier than that on street free agents). What I found was staggering. And it’s so simple that you can really explain it in five words.

Most good teams didn’t spend.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/03/18/f...l&utm_campaign=themmqb&utm_source=twitter.com
----

My big question is why is this argument dumbed down to thinking if you don't go crazy in free agency that you are somehow smart?

There is a thing called a happy medium.

Once you have built the foundation, there can always be a roof added to the top to finish quickly.

People should not get upset that the Cowboys didn't get three or four expensive free agents.

But a well-placed precision strike is not the end of the world either.

The claim made in the article that good teams don't spend is not exactly true.

Teams like New England (Gilmore) and the Rams (Suh) added impact players that aided their cause.

Just call this what it is. Being cheap and thinking you are smarter than everyone else and you can just outwit everyone in April.


I don't think the Jones's have reached the "M"s in the dictionary yet, so the word "medium" is an unknown.
 

Vinnie2u

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Sorry Stephen it’s not working. ET would of been a perfect addition to this team. He didn’t break the budget. He wanted to come here and he would of instantly made this team better. Sure we’re not one player away but we could of been one step closer. We’re just walking up the down escalator at this point.
 

Alexander

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Stephen views FA in two ways - you are either all in or you just pick around the edges.

It's a bizarre way to look at FA.

It is a direct result of bad contracts that he personally handed out in the past.

It is basically saying you refuse to cook anymore because you burned yourself being stupid by touching the burner.

And the whole time he says these things, it is like he believes that the Cowboys have cracked the code to winning a championship in this league. It is insane.
 

Sydla

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It is a direct result of bad contracts that he personally handed out in the past.

It is basically saying you refuse to cook anymore because you burned yourself being stupid by touching the burner.

And the whole time he says these things, it is like he believes that the Cowboys have cracked the code to winning a championship in this league. It is insane.

3 playoffs in 5 year, one playoff win.

Get on board. Toot toot!
 

ClappingCarrot

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I don't buy this narrative at all anymore. I used to, but it no longer makes sense, especially when looking at the success in FA that some teams are having. NE adds Gilmore, he has an All Pro season and picks off Goff to win a Super Bowl. The Rams add Suh and he plays seemingly the best game of his career against us, and advances them to a conference championship game. The Eagles grabbed Foles again on a two year deal after disappointing as a franchise QB in St. Louis and he wins the Super Bowl MVP. On the flip side, you can also get burned and spend 200M on a defense like NYG did, or (laughably) spend 84M on Kirk Cousins like the Vikings did. The key is to thoroughly evaluate your roster and make the necessary move to make your team better, not just be a "team that we can all be proud of", like JG likes to say.

Adding players like Jay Novacek, Deion Sanders, and even Terrell Owens served the team well in years past. And, I know Stephen doesn't want to admit it, but several of "our guys" are overpaid as we speak, including Snake Lee and Jason Qwitten.
 

Ken

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I am ok with how we operate. I had high hopes for ET but I get it, to expensive.

If we end up with Houston, Suh, EIfert and Cobb...i would do backflips though! :)
 

BatteryPowered

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You don't necessarily have to spend big in the FA market. But one thing is true in EVERY business in EVERY industry...

It you aren't getting better, you're getting worse.

Another simple fact...if you want to be dominate in your business segment/industry, you must pass the organizations ahead of you. Waiting for them to decline is not a formula for success.
 

dckid

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I don't buy this narrative at all anymore. I used to, but it no longer makes sense, especially when looking at the success in FA that some teams are having. NE adds Gilmore, he has an All Pro season and picks off Goff to win a Super Bowl. The Rams add Suh and he plays seemingly the best game of his career against us, and advances them to a conference championship game. The Eagles grabbed Foles again on a two year deal after disappointing as a franchise QB in St. Louis and he wins the Super Bowl MVP. On the flip side, you can also get burned and spend 200M on a defense like NYG did, or (laughably) spend 84M on Kirk Cousins like the Vikings did. The key is to thoroughly evaluate your roster and make the necessary move to make your team better, not just be a "team that we can all be proud of", like JG likes to say.

Adding players like Jay Novacek, Deion Sanders, and even Terrell Owens served the team well in years past. And, I know Stephen doesn't want to admit it, but several of "our guys" are overpaid as we speak, including Snake Lee and Jason Qwitten.

Stop making sense. All the folks wearing rose colored glasses will start throwing stones at you... But we made the playoffs the past two of the three years. We are going to organically get better. Have patience. The problem is that the NFL is moving at a much faster rate than really anyone can imagine, especially a mom and pop organization like Dallas. Yes we are ultimately ~to the Cincy Bengals only we have cash coming out of our ears.
The truth of the matter is, you have to go all in NOW. Look at the Eagles, Saints, Bears, Rams, look at Seattle in 2012 after they got Wilson. They made a push for 3-4 years. Look at the Niners under Harbaugh... remember they made the SB in 2012, lost in the championship the following year. Look how quickly it fell apart? Unless you are the Patriots and have the Brady, Bill infrastructure it moves fast.
We need to look at the moves that will take us over the top. There is no reason why we could not have made the SB last year. What's done is done, what can we do this offseason that will allow us to take the next step? This is the approach our FO should be living and breathing.
 

Carson

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We don’t ask you make a living there Stephen.

But 2-3 decent contract guys isn’t too much to ask is it?
 
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