On Inauguration Day, Cowboys executive orders, promise made to fans ring hollow

It’s a big day in the United States of America as a new President takes office. No matter which side one resides on politically, all of Cowboys Nation agrees the 61^st version of the franchise needs to bring change. It’s been 25 long years since Dallas has seen itself in a Conference Championship game, which means 25 years of frustration.

There won’t be any amendment at the top of the organization, where Jerry and Stephen Jones remain for future terms, but here’s what they can do if they want to fulfill their promises to the fans of Cowboys Nation.

It’s the state of the union for the Dallas Cowboys as they fight to get back some respect and campaign for their sixth Super Bowl.

Jerry Jones would like to open by letting us know he’s in it to win it. He’s been telling the fans this for years, but when he brags about the Cowboys leading the league in attendance during a pandemic, it doesn’t inspire confidence that he cares more about winning games than making money.

However, Jones continues to promise that he’s all about trying to win Super Bowls and that’s the most important thing on his mind.

If Jones is for the people he represents in the fan base, the owner might need to step in and take some control back from his son Stephen Jones. Jerry might say every decision starts and ends with him as the President, but it appears to be that (Executive) Vice President Stephen is making more of the determinations on contracts and in player acquisition recently.

It hasn’t worked out under Stephen’s regime.

The Cowboys used to spend every dollar they could to bring in top tier talent, but that hasn’t been the case since Stephen’s become more involved in the organization. The salary cap is in place, but there are ways to work around bringing the best players possible inside those cap restraints, the Cowboys just haven’t been as aggressive in acquiring the best players.

Instead, the team has been more intent on signing their own players instead of adding higher priced free agents. That has become one of the staples from Stephen’s term.

Except when he hasn’t followed his own executive orders.

Letting stud CB Byron Jones go and failing to secure QB Dak Prescott on a long-term deal before he got ridiculously expensive have been massive failures from Stephen’s time in office. The Cowboys need to fulfill their promise of making Prescott the quarterback of the team for a long time. It’s something the President and VP of the Cowboys continue to say, but still haven’t delivered on.

Without a quarterback, the team doesn’t stand a chance. The Cowboys know what they have in Prescott and don’t need to go looking for another candidate to lead the team. Two years of stalling has cost the team money that could’ve been spent elsewhere, especially on the defense budget. It’s time to get the long-term deal done this time around, starting with at least four more years with Prescott.

The Cowboys also continue to pledge they’ll look at every position in terms of getting better each offseason. That hasn’t been the case as the team has neglected safety for far too long and they’ve been resistant to change. Even when they do address the position, it’s with band aids that don’t work and it took the team forever to elect a new starter.

Donovan Wilson made an immediate impact on the defense but it took too long for the team to see him as an option. With new Ministry of Defense coordinator Dan Quinn, who believes a policy of dominant defenses includes great safety play, the Cowboys might finally be addressing the safety issue.

Even with Wilson, the Cowboys need to address safety and continue to build a stronger secondary. Getting better on the backend of the defense is essential for the unit to be successful. That should be something they learned after the previous regime, which had one of the worst defenses in franchise history.

If the Cowboys are to going to be better in the future and put to rest a quarter decade of futility, they need to fulfill the promises they’ve been selling to the fans. We’ll see if America’s Team can live up to their oaths starting in 2021.

You can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi.

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