Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made an unexpected trade last week, acquiring quarterback Trey Lance from the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Despite the addition, Jones would prefer it if his new quarterback remained on the bench all season.
“Candidly, I don’t want to plan on, count on or wish for help from him this year,” Jones told reporters last week, via Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News.
Adding to the strange nature of the trade, Jones reportedly failed to inform current starting quarterback Dak Prescott of the move.
The entire situation rubbed Mark Schlereth, a long-time Cowboys rival and current FOX Sports analyst, the wrong way.
“This is why the Cowboys will never win s–t because Jerry Jones can’t help himself,” Schlereth said on Wednesday’s episode of the Stinkin’ Truth Podcast. “I said it, it’s there.
“You think about Jerry Jones, you’re gonna go out there and you’re gonna make a trade for a guy without talking to anybody else in your organization, Stephen Jones, your head coach Mike McCarthy, your quarterback.”
Schlereth’s main gripe wasn’t necessarily that Prescott was left in the dark, it’s that the head coach McCarthy had no involvement with the trade itself. Jones assumed total control of the entire situation.
“I really don’t care if you involve your quarterback in it or not,” Schlereth continued. “But to not involve your head coach. What does it say about your head coach? ‘Hey guys, I know he’s your head coach, but he truly has no authority within this organization. So, you don’t have to listen to him. You don’t have to pay attention because the buck stops with me. Your coach doesn’t have the authority to fire you. I do.’
“You cannot win in the National Football League that way.”
The Cowboys are coming off a 12-5 season and expectations remain high for “America’s Team,” but that’s no different from any other year. They have just five playoff wins since 1995, and Schlereth doesn’t really envision that changing here in 2023.
“Oh, they may win a bunch of regular season games because they’re talented,” Schlereth said. “They’ll get in the playoffs and they’ll s–-t in their helmets like they do every year. That’s the Cowboys.”
Indeed it is.
