Top 3 worst management decisions over the years

[yentl911]

Passing on Randy Moss

Letting Ken Norton Jr go to SF. Difference maker for them that helped them win a championship

 

[Floatyworm]

How about not investing a #1 pick in a QB in over 30 years?

To me that is the franchisees biggest failure.

The fact this organization hasn't been able to get a high quality QB since Aikman...ought to tell you everything.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

So during the entire ownership of the Dallas Cowboys via Jerry Jones, which are the top 3 worst decisions by management since the Jones' have owned the Cowboys? Here are mine:

1. Firing Jimmy Johnson following back to back Superbowl wins.
2. Not doing a single thing to get Adrian Peterson into a Cowboys uniform, a guy that called Jones and made it clear he has always wanted to be a Cowboy, and a guy who proved he could carry an entire team on his back as he repeatedly proved he was a wrecking machine of a runner.
3. I am so disgusted by the first 2 on the list that my head is spinning so much I cannot even think about a 3rd.

Let's hear your 3. Or will the management here crush the freedom of speech I put my *** on the line to protect in multiple wars and countless missions?

1 - letting Jimmy go...I strongly believe if he stayed, we would be the first and still the only team to win 3 straight. we were close
2- not hiring a real GM

and the rest in no particular order

• not drafting randy moss.
• Joey galloway trade, Jerry thinking fantasy football
• trading for Roy williams when the coaching staff was against it
• making dave campo the head coach...
• signing TO...begining of the end
• taking taco over watt...stupid
• re-upping jason garrett.... the 8-8 coach
• signing schotty instead of going after ben johnson
• signing greg hardy
• extendiung club foot Smith...why why why?
• trading a first for cooper, then trading him away for a 5th after handing him a large contract..why why why

there is more, but now I am depressed!!!

 

[blueblood70]

So during the entire ownership of the Dallas Cowboys via Jerry Jones, which are the top 3 worst decisions by management since the Jones' have owned the Cowboys? Here are mine:

1. Firing Jimmy Johnson following back to back Superbowl wins.
2. Not doing a single thing to get Adrian Peterson into a Cowboys uniform, a guy that called Jones and made it clear he has always wanted to be a Cowboy, and a guy who proved he could carry an entire team on his back as he repeatedly proved he was a wrecking machine of a runner.
3. I am so disgusted by the first 2 on the list that my head is spinning so much I cannot even think about a 3rd.

Let's hear your 3. Or will the management here crush the freedom of speech I put my *** on the line to protect in multiple wars and countless missions?

Are we doing this again i've already checked out from your post because you don't post here very often but as soon as you put Jimmy Johnson in that narrative again coming up with some ridiculous post that's supposed to impress us i'm not impressed at all as a matter of fact I think it's ridiculous let it go let it go let it go let it go..

The fact that you didn't make the top 10 you should have added passing up on Derek Henry which I don't agree with not getting TJ what now this year it's they should have got Rodriguez instead of Lawrence They shouldn't have paid X player like Zeke so much money you want me to come up with what I think is mistakes and then we can go to all 32 teams and make the same list because they make the same mistakes they do all the teams make these mistakes They make mistakes on coaching staff changes and players all the time they let guys slip in the draft we can do this all day and nitpick and cherry pick I'm tired of hearing about it I don't want to hear about management decisions..

I can tell you this if I was compiling it top 10 all time worse timing and bad subject matter for a fan to post here you'd be number one right now I just decided that right now your post is number one biggest mistake of 2026..LOL

Nothing that's happening this year has anything to do with any of that I'm sorry those are some weird picks for a weird list if you wanted to make a better one I can come up with 10 different ones that are worse maybe even 20 so yes I agree the management has made some mistakes and so has all 32 teams in this league has made big big mistakes..


But I hate to break it to you jimmy Johnson wasn't gonna make this team better than what happened with Switzer yes Switzer took Jimmy's players and nearly won two more Super Bowls but he got him to an NFC championship game and lost And then one of another Super Bowl we all know that Jimmy Johnson was going to leave jimmy Johnson should not have embarrassed his boss he should not have purposely poked the bear and was upset when the bear bit his arm off That is what happened They both admitted they both made mistakes but also Jimmy Johnson is a mover like Bill Parcells he was not staying around for more than another three years or so We'd have been in the same position in my opinion Jimmy Johnson would have helped us win one or two more Super Bowls just like Switzer and then he was on his way out because his team was crumbling the league was changing his team was getting old fast he did not have the same players that's why he didn't do anything in Miami Dan Marino was aging the team was falling apart and he didn't know how to rebuild it he is not some guru or he would have been AGM in this league a real GM he and Bill Barcells are so overrated yes some of the greatest coaches but they were never that great at team building by themselves there was a lot of luck involved with the Dallas Cowboys They just struck gold at the right time with all the moves and teams willing to make the moves but you're delusional on this whole Jimmy Johnson thing if he was so great he would have been a GM a true frontline GM like the Philadelphia Eagles d Howie Roseman But why did Bill Parcells and Jimmy Johnson get shunned by the lead because that's what happened they both really wanted to be AGM with a lot of power And yet they didn't Neither one of them got what they really wanted That's like scratching your head and wondering how the guy like Bill Belichick end up coaching North Carolina That's because he and that team along with Tom Brady were attached and once it fell apart he is not the Super genius that people think because when you look at yes one of the greatest coaches ever because of his dynasty was the best ever the the amount of wins in the Super Bowl appearances and the Super Bowl wins will probably go Unchecked it was great but Bill Belichick you think if he was really that great he would have got another NFL job really fast or he would have got AGM job or they would have elevated him to a full time GM within that organization of New England but they didn't that's why you are overrating Jimmy Johnson the same way is most people in here and I love Jimmy Johnson for what he did for this team but he didn't do it by himself Jerry was part of it everybody else who was there were part of it it was falling apart quick and he would have never rebounded and this never would have turned into a New England situation...

 

[Kingofholland]

Many of the blunders have involved WRs, from trading premium capital for Joey Galloway and Roy Williams, to re-signing Amari Cooper only to quickly trade him for peanuts and electing to hand a big contract to Michael Gallup instead. Re-signing Terrell Owen's, only to cut him the next year. Passing on Randy Moss, etc.

The most annoyed I think I ever was on draft night was when Steven Jackson fell into their lap when they desperately needed an RB and they passed. Granted they got some good seasons out of Julius Jones, Felix Jones, and of course Marion Barber but Steven Jackson looked like a no brainer. They traded back, got a 2nd and a 1st the following year which netted them Julius Jones and Marcus Spears.

Moving on from Jimmy Johnson was probably the worst decision though, not just because they could have won a couple more Super Bowls over the next few years, but just how terrible they drafted and mismanaged the team was.

 

[Dorsett99Yards]

Not using the concept big-physical-fast to build a defense.
Not keeping a top notch runner or top notch tandem at RB.
Not keeping a 6'3" or taller pure pocket passer at QB.

 

[Amarth]

^ this is exactly the kind of fan I mentioned earlier.

No Zeke wasn;t perfect but the Cowboys used him hard and early.

Criticizing him because he had a lot of carries? WHO decides THAT? Zeke? NooOOo.

Theuy asked him to play injured and he did...playing injured only gets you more injured. Ask your boy Barkley about how to manage his injuries.

He played hard...and did every unreasonable thing the Cowboys asked him to do. They ran him ragged. And THIS is the kind of _____ appreciation he gets.

Yeah and he partied hard too which is also why is career was as short as it was, if he took better care of his body and took his job more seriously then maybe he could have had a few more productive years.

Dude was and is a bum.

 

[gtb1943]

Yeah and he partied hard too which is also why is career was as short as it was, if he took better care of his body and took his job more seriously then maybe he could have had a few more productive years.

Dude was and is a bum.

the only bum in this thread is the one posting this

 

[gtb1943]

I laugh at those that whine about Randy Moss.
The boys O line was going downhill; the defense was a shadow of what it had been and we had meh coaches at best
You really think he would have made much of a difference?

 

[Amarth]

the only bum in this thread is the one posting this

Awwwwe…someone got their feelers hurt for calling out a player for what he is, not the slightest bit surprised.

 

[plasticman]

By far, it is Jerry assuming the role of GM.

Poor decision #1 led directly to poor decisions #2-#100.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Jerry should've done everything in his power to keep Jimmy. Instead, he let him walk.

A 4peat (or more!) was there for the taking in 1994 but they couldn't put their egos aside long enough to let it happen.

Fun facts about 1994 season w/o Jimmy
1994 was Larry Allen's rookie season.
Larry and Erik played one game together when Allen filled in at LT for Tuinei.
Cowboys beat the Cardinals, 38-3.

Up through week 8, Aikman never fell below 80 passer rating, and the team was 7-1.
After the week 8 game, Erik Williams had his car wreck

After week 8, Aikman fell below 70 passer rating in 4 games, played SF twice, both games below 70 passer rating, 3 INTs, top 2 passing yardage games.

Who replaced Erik Williams at RT? Larry Allen.

Also, 1994 was Garrett's come from behind Thanksgiving Day Game win over GB.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Didn't read everyone, but I've got a couple that have flown under the radar for a long time.

2007 Parcell's rushes "She" Glenn back from knee injury in training camp,
Glenn reinjures, and is done. But Jerry doesn't replace him, Glenn returns for the last game of the season for 0 receptions on 1 target, then the division championship against SF for 2 receptions on 5 targets for 15 yards. Glenn never plays another NFL regular season snap. Done.
Glenn was less than 150 yards behind TO in 2006.

2016 Not giving Tony a chance to come back
As long as Tony could stay upright, he was still the better QB. He had MVP level play in 2014.
If Tony breaks again, put Dak back in, and we're back where we were anyway.
If Tony *doesn't* break, then we have a better chance in the playoffs with Romo having the most dominant oline and RB combo of his career.
And we have two pro bowl level QBs under contract for the offseason, with Dak's being the most valuable contract in the league, paying nothing for a rookie pro bowl QB. We could have traded Dak for a mountain of treasure. What could we have traded Romo for if he had come back and proved himself healthy? Instead, we got *nothing*.

 

[Gangsta Spanksta]

1. Johnson resigned on March 29, 1994, rather than Jones firing him. Johnson wrote down he was only to be in Dallas 5 years. Allowing him to leave was Jerry's biggest blunder.

After that (in any order):

1. Not getting AP, not drafting Randy Moss, not getting D. Henry
2. The Joey Galloway trade.
3. The Roy Williams trade and new contract.
4. Keeping Jason Garrett as HC for so long.
5. No succession plan for replacing Troy Aikman.
6. The 2020 defensive roster/coaching failure.
7. Not drafting T.J.Watt. Instead, we got a blah Taco.

And there's a bigger theme in all these decisions: The GM Jerry Jones and his unqualified ability to make personnel decisions while also retaining final control over football operations when he has no expertise to do that either.

yeah there so many, of them that it is hard to put them in any order. The Randy moss one people like to bring up, I give Jerry a slide on that one given the reputation the cowboys had back then, and he would've had Michael Irvin as a role model. I think Randy would've just turned into another controversy down here. Though maybe one year and then trade capital for him?