Listening to a Jerry Jones presser requires the ability to try and make sense out of a word salad that frankly doesn’t usually make much sense. I couldn’t count how many times I’ve listened to him speak and thought, “What is he saying?” I find it quite humorous how often the man says, “Let me be clear“, followed by sentences that are anything but clear.
So in the aftermath of Jerry’s most recent run on sentence extravaganza this week, all most of us could translate from that Jones goulash was that Jerry is now proclaiming that in the upcoming 2024 season, he’s “All in”. (Making me and many others wonder, “I thought we were all in this past season”)
Here are some possible decoded Jones translations to what that “all in” statement actually means:
- Scenario 1: In this scenario “all in“ simply means that Jerry is planning to make new contractual arrangements with the players he believes are the centerpieces of talent here. A new contract for Cedee Lamb, Micah Parsons, and (to the dismay and anger for many here) an extension for Dak Prescott. He already has several other big names already nailed down like Zack Martin and DeMarcus Lawrence. He would sprinkle in some new draft picks, and a couple of mid-level FAs. The scary thing to me about this scenario is JJs long standing habit of “running it back” with teams of players that haven’t really done much of anything in the playoffs. Is the next year bound to somehow be the magic number?
- Scenario 2: The LA Rams and Tampa Bay models from 2020 and 2021. The Bucs behind their aggressive GM Jason Licht in 2020 threw an all in roster around Tom Brady, traded for some big name players like Leonard Fournette, and pushed a lot of cap chips to the center of the table on FAs, especially on defense. They won the SB. In 2021, Rams GM Les Snead got uber aggressive trading QB Jared Goff and some draft picks to Detroit in exchange for Matt Stafford. They also traded for star LB Vin Miller with Denver, traded for CB Jalen Ramsey, and were also aggressive in FA, signing guys like S Eric Weddle and WR Odell Beckham. They won the SB in 2021. In this scenario, it’s a philosophy of “Who cares about tomorrow, we’re going for it today.” To do something like this, it would also probably require trading Dak for picks (which I would be for)
- Scenario 3: I would call this the aggressive young roster “all in”. Trade Dak, get some picks, roll with Trey Lance, draft a QB in round 1 and use the other extra picks to bring a large infusion of young talent along with some sprinkled in medium level FAs. If they could draft a good RB in round 2-4 that could play immediately, add some OL talent that could bring back a running game, young talent at LB, they could possibly have a year similar to what the packers and lions had this year where they got better as the year went on and actually have a bright future.
I‘m sure there are other scenarios for “all in”. These just seemed the easiest to conceive. Of all these options I listed, I prefer the 2nd or 3rd scenarios. If I were to guess which one we will actually see, it will probably be the first scenario which is basically what Jerry always does. He believes in his own talent too much.
What do you think “all in“ in 2024 means?
