Jerry Jones - Pro Football Rumors

Cowboys Meet With Dez Bryant

March 13th, 2018 at 9:02am CST by Dallas Robinson

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has indeed met with veteran receiver Dez Bryant, but the club has not asked him to accept a pay reduction at this point, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).

Bryant is due a $12.5MM base salary in 2018, and will count for $16.5MM on Dallas’ salary cap. If he’s released, the Cowboys would save $8.5MM but still be on the hook for $8MM in dead money. Dallas could designate the 29-year-old Bryant as a post-June 1 release and in turn save $12.5MM in 2018 space, but that extra room wouldn’t be available until June. As such, it wouldn’t help the Cowboys sign free agents in March.

Bryant has managed to get into the end zone 14 times over the past two seasons, but he hasn’t topped 1,000 yards since the 2014 season. 2017 also marked the first year that Bryant was able to stay healthy for all 16 games since that 2014 season. Bryant only posted 69 receptions and 838 yards, however, which isn’t in line with a salary that makes him the NFL’s eighth-highest-paid wideout.

Jerry Jones Reimburses NFL For $2MM+

March 7th, 2018 at 6:46pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has agreed to reimburse the NFL for more than $2MM in legal fees, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The league’s owners said expenses incurred as a result of Jones’ threat to sue the NFL.

“After a hearing with the Commissioner and the Finance Committee, the matter of the reimbursement of legal fees has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties,” the league said in a statement.

Jones, of course, expressed his unhappiness with the league over commissioner Roger Goodell‘s now-completed contract extension, as well as the NFL’s decision to suspend Cowboys running Ezekiel Elliott for six games following domestic violence accusations. While Jones never actually sued the league, he’s still required to pay for not only his own legal expenses, but those of the NFL, as well. The league’s competition committee warned Jones of such an outcome in a November letter.

Goodell himself met with Jones in Florida on Monday night, reports David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, allowing the Cowboys owner to make his case as to why he shouldn’t be forced to reimburse the league.

NFC Notes: Jerry Jones, Landry, Bruce Allen

March 4th, 2018 at 12:59pm CST by Rory Parks

Clarence E. Hill, Jr. of the Star-Telegram writes that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will testify before commissioner Roger Goodell and other owners at an appeal hearing tomorrow in Palm Beach, Florida. Jones is appealing the commissioner’s decision to assess him more than $2MM in legal fees stemming from the federal court case with Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott and Jones’ opposition to Goodell’s contract extension.

As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk observes, the fact that Jones is testifying before Goodell means that Goodell has not exercised his right to designate the appeal to someone else, even though not doing so creates obvious conflict of interest concerns. In Florio’s estimation, Jones has strong arguments against fee-shifting for his threat to sue the league with respect to Goodell’s extension, as he never actually followed through with the threat. His arguments against fee-shifting with respect to the Elliott matter is a different story, as the Cowboys clearly provided substantial assistance to Elliott in his battle with the league.

Florio says Goodell has final and binding power to resolve the amount of legal fees to be paid, but the resolution granting him that power does not expressly grant him the authority to also answer the threshold question of whether club behavior triggered a repayment obligation. Goodell presumably will take the position that he has final say in that regard, too.

As the Goodell v. Jones saga drags on, let’s take a look at several more notes from the NFC:

Although the Bears have interest in Dolphins wideout Jarvis Landry, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune does not believe the team should trade for him. Biggs says Landry does not give Chicago the dynamic, speedy playmaker that it needs, and given that, it would cost too much in both dollars and draft capital to land him.
Although most mock drafts have the Lions selecting a RB or DE with their first-round draft pick, Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com says the team could target an OLB like Virginia Tech’s Tremaine Edmunds to boost its pass rush. Rothstein says the Lions could indeed target a RB with its first draft choice, but it’s a deep class for RBs, and the better value might be found on Day 2.
John Keim of ESPN.com says it is unclear whether Redskins team president Bruce Allen is on the hot seat, though Keim believes he should be. Nonetheless, Keim thinks it would take a really bad season, and not just a mediocre one, for Allen to be shown the door.
Mike Jurecki of 98.7FM says the Cardinals would like to retain linebacker Josh Bynes as a depth option, but he believes the team will target a linebacker at some point in the draft and/or look to the UDFA market to grab an LB (Twitter link).
Earlier today, we took a look at potential QB plans for the Vikings and Giants.

Roger Goodell To Fine Jerry Jones?

February 26th, 2018 at 2:26pm CST by Sam Robinson

Jerry Jones‘ extensive 2017 fight against Roger Goodell about his contract extension looks like it will cost him. Ken Belson of the New York Times reports the commissioner is preparing to fine the Cowboys owner “millions of dollars” for what Goodell deemed an act of sabotage by Jones in attempting derail his extension last year. That and Jones’ ongoing defense of Ezekiel Elliott will lead to this punishment, several sources informed Belson.

This fine will exceed $2MM, Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports (on Twitter). As Mike Florio of PFT notes, the NFL’s Constitution and Bylaws stipulates that the commissioner cannot fine more than $500K for conduct detrimental to the league. However, the NFL is not technically fining Jones, per veteran reporter Ed Werder (Twitter link). Instead, the league is seeking repayment for approximately $2MM in legal expenses relative to his threats to sue the league.Goodell was initially reluctant to take action, but the NFL Finance Committee and other owners are in support of this plan.

Jones threatened to sue the NFL last year over a matter he said stemmed over Goodell’s contract. He hired an attorney and was prepared to sue the six members of the league’s compensation committee in November, and Belson reports the owner attempted to influence NFL officials during Elliott’s case. Belson reports Jones will be ordered to pay the legal fees the compensation committee spent defending itself as well as the legal expenses the NFL spent “defending its decision to suspend Elliott.”

Goodell’s contract went through, with Elliott serving the six-game suspension that Jones and the NFLPA vigorously fought for months. This extensive process left Jones — who once supported a Goodell extension — at intense odds with the commissioner and the Arthur Blank-chaired compensation committee. And this action — foreshadowed, to some degree, late last year — by the league likely won’t quell the animosity any time soon.

Latest On Colin Kaepernick’s Collusion Lawsuit

February 14th, 2018 at 11:35am CST by Dallas Robinson

Colin Kaepernick and his legal team have now requested two high-profile individuals be deposed in his collusion lawsuit against the NFL. Jane Goodell, the wife of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, and John Schnatter, the former CEO of Papa John’s pizza, have both been sent deposition requests, according to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports and Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.

Kaepernick has already asked for records, emails, and text messages from Roger Goodell and several other notable NFL executives and coaches — including Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and 49ers owner Jed York — but Jane Goodell is only tangentially related to the league. Her inclusion in the lawsuit is most likely related to an October Wall Street Journal article which detailed Goodell’s use of an anonymous Twitter account to defender her husband from social media criticism.

Schnatter’s involvement in the Kaepernick grievance is also adjacent to the league, as he complained that kneeling NFL players — a form of protest initiated by Kaepernick — was to blame for declining television ratings, and therefore, lackluster pizza sales. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who is also on Kaepernick’s deposition list, owns more than 100 Papa John’s locations and enjoys a close relationship with Schnatter, per La Canfora, who reports Kaepernick’s lawyers want to determine Jones’ role in Schnatter’s comments.

Kaepernick, of course, didn’t play in the NFL in 2017 and has since argued that league owners are conspiring to keep him off the field. The end goal of Kaepernick’s grievance may be to terminate the current collective bargaining agreement (no matter how unlikely that may seem), but he’d been expected to be granted much leeway when questioning NFL owners.

Jerry Jones “Feels Good” About Jason Garrett

December 25th, 2017 at 8:18am CST by GregGoldstein

The Cowboys 2017 season was one of major ups and downs. Though, in the end, America’s team will not be in the postseason after losing to the Seahawks at home on Sunday afternoon. However, that doesn’t mean that owner Jerry Jones has soured on his head coach. Jones made sure to give Jason Garrett a vote of confidence during his postgame comments, reports Todd Archer of ESPN.com.

“Just so we’re clear about it, I do understand frustration right after you lose a game that has as much meaningfulness as this ballgame, but I get to look at a lot of different things and have been around a lot of head coaches and coordinators,” Jones said. “I feel good about our head coach.”

Garrett, 51, has been the head coach of the Cowboys since 2010, accumulating a record of 67-55 during his tenure. But on the other hand, he only has two playoff appearances to show for his efforts. In addition, Garrett has not led the team past the divisional round, despite being the number one overall seed in the NFC last year.

However, Garrett was without his star running back Ezekiel Elliott for six games during the stretch run of the season. So while the loss does hurt, especially considering that the team had rallied for three straight wins in the weeks prior, the team is still young and returns many of its key players in 2018.

It would seem like Jones is intent on keeping Garrett at the helm for at least another year, but the pressure will be on if the Cowboys continue to underperform with him at the controls.

NFC East Notes: Cowboys, Jones, Giants, Webb

December 14th, 2017 at 4:56pm CST by Zachary Links

A look at the NFC East:

When speaking to reporters at Wednesday’s meetings, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hinted that he wants to dial back the power of the commissioner’s office (Twitter link via Ben Volin of The Boston Globe). “There’s nobody that doesn’t see the need for changes in the NFL in several areas. … One of it is an antiquated constitution, an antiquated situation as to the power of his commissioner,” Jones said.
Giants interim GM Kevin Abrams says he would like to see rookie Davis Webb get some playing time down the stretch (Twitter link via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post). However, he added that “you can only play one quarterback at a time” and said that interim head coach Steve Spagnuolo will have the final call on the team’s QB situation.
Several teams have failed to lure Cowboys senior director of college and pro personnel Will McClay in the past, but there is a feeling that he might be interested in the Giants‘ GM vacancy, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv writes. McClay is in charge of the Cowboys’ drafts and they have had a strong track record in recent years. McClay is among the Fritz Pollard Alliance’s recommended minority candidates for GM jobs this offseason.

East Notes: Jets, Petty, Giants, Cowboys

December 13th, 2017 at 3:24pm CST by Zachary Links

This is Bryce Petty‘s last call to prove that he can be the Jets‘ quarterback in 2018 and beyond, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News writes.

“I have all the confidence in the world in Bryce,” center Wesley Johnson said this week. “He’s great in the huddle, he’s great in the locker room and I know he works hard. He prepares like a starter every week, so I’m not worried about him at all. I’m actually excited for the opportunity that he could get.”

While some of Petty’s teammates believe in him, the same can’t necessarily be said for team brass. Petty was a draft pick of the previous regime and he has only a small sample of real NFL work to show the new bosses. In his latest outing against the Broncos, Petty failed to impress, so he’ll have to turn it up in the final games of the season if he wants to stay in New York.

Here’s more from the East divisions:

Ernie Accorsi is helping the Giants in their search for a new GM and if history is any indicator, it won’t take long to make a hire, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com writes. Raanan rightly notes that Accorsi drew from a small pool of candidates when he helped the Panthers (2013), Bears (2015), and Lions (2016) make their respective choices. In each case, a hire was made roughly one week after the conclusion of the regular season.
Giants owner John Mara says the league will discuss changes to the “composition” of the Compensation Committee at the league meeting in March (Twitter link via Jim Trotter of ESPN.com). The Compensation Committee is currently comprised of six owners with Falcons owner Arthur Blank acting as the group’s leader. Up until recently, Cowboys boss Jerry Jones served as an unofficial seventh member.
Jones says that the incentive-based structure of Roger Goodell‘s new contract will force him to deliver big results for the league. “If Roger comes in and knocked it out of the ballpark, he’ll really be rewarded,” the Cowboys owner told Jarrett Bell of USA Today. “You’ve got to hope that he has that kind of performance. There are no easy layups here on his bonuses. He’s got to come in there and lead the division in high scoring.” Goodell’s new contract is said to be 90% incentive-based and will take him through the 2024 season. After that, the NFL says Goodell will step aside.
The Patriots are not expecting wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell to return from IR in time for the end of the regular season or the playoffs (Twitter link via Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald).

Latest On Jerry Jones, Roger Goodell

December 12th, 2017 at 7:43pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Before Roger Goodell formally signed an extension that will keep him as the NFL’s commissioner until the start of the 2024 league year, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones proposed a resolution that would have delayed negotiations for six months, according to a memo obtained by Seth Wickersham of ESPN.com.

The proposal was included in an agenda for this week’s league meetings, per Wickersham, and called for a secret vote on a six-month moratorium on Goodell’s extension. While the resolution obviously failed (and Jones failed to organize any compelling level of anti-Goodell support among his fellow owners), Jones will still be able to voice concerns among Goodell’s contract when the league convenes Wednesday. Indeed, owners are “bracing” for Jones to attempt “one last play” to circumvent Goodell’s deal at the league meetings, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

“I’m not going to get into details,” Jones said Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan. “But the resolution I put in is still in place. This is why we have the meetings. I am looking forward to it. It will be a great opportunity. We will able to get some meaningful things done because of what we have been doing over the last few months.”

Jones’ battle against Goodell isn’t a new fight, of course, as the Cowboys owner has claimed the league’s owners were “misled” by the commissioner’s new deal. While Jones’ angst has generally been directed at compensation committee chairman Arthur Blank, Jones is also reportedly upset over Goodell’s decision to suspend Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott.

East Notes: Cowboys, Giants, Hackenberg, Jets

December 8th, 2017 at 2:21pm CST by Zachary Links

Jerry Jones offered a measured response to Roger Goodell‘s new extension when asked about it on Friday morning.

“No, I don’t really [have any comment],” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan (transcript via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News). “We’re having a very important [owners] meeting here in Dallas next week beginning Wednesday. That’s very meaningful. I’m looking forward to that. That’ll be very meaningful as we go forward. One of the things that I think that has been mentioned is any role that I might have had in the extension of Roger. As you know, I’ve been on both ends of it as far as any criticism. It’s been my experience in 30 years in the NFL that to make change and to make positive change — every time we all strive to make the NFL better, I include every owner with that — it’s hard. It’s very, very hard. If you really want to make some changes, you usually end up getting a lot of criticism along the way. It’s happened every time with me when we’ve had meaningful change. … We’ll see how it goes forward, but there’s nothing that has surprised me here.”

While Jones seethes behind closed doors, let’s take a look at the latest from the East divisions:

Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com spoke with people around the league to size up some potential candidates for the Giants‘ GM vacancy. The names he’s hearing include Eliot Wolf (Packers), Nick Caserio (Patriots), Scott Pioli (Falcons), Trent Kirchner (Seahawks), Dave Gettleman (ex-Panthers GM), Louis Riddick (currently with ESPN), and internal candidates Kevin Abrams and Marc Ross.
Can Christian Hackenberg still be the Jets‘ quarterback of the future? The former second round pick has yet to see the field, but Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News won’t rule out the possibility that he could be in the mix next season. For his part, Hackenberg admits that he is anxious to take an NFL snap. “In order to grow and learn, you need to get hit in your mouth,” Hackenberg said. “You need to fail. Then you grow from that. There’s really no intimidation. I got to experience things. I felt like I experienced a lot of really good things this preseason and some things I need to learn from. That’s all part of the process. If you don’t experience both ends of the spectrum, you’re not getting everything out of the adventure.”