Posts tagged JerryJones at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

So it looks like Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was lying through his teeth when he said he "had a lot of confidence in [backup quarterback] Brad Johnson." Of course, he could've been joking (or just being a good general manager). Whatever, I'm guessing Dallas fans were a little concerned.

Well, some good news on the Tony Romo Understudy position: apparently the Cowboys are in the market for a younger, less brittle backup quarterback. From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Mac Engel's multiple sources:

The current plan is to use veteran Brad Johnson for the second consecutive season to play behind Romo, with former Grapevine star Richard Bartel again returning to the practice squad for another year of grooming. But whereas last year, when the Cowboys liked their slotting of these three, there is more of an urgent feeling to upgrade behind Romo ... you know, just in case.

And the name currently floating round Cowboys HQ? Chris Simms. He's 13 years younger than Johnson with one less spleen. Simms is unhappy with his present situation in Tampa Bay and Engel writes that he has told friends he'd definitely be interested in playing for the Cowboys.

If Simms isn't the guy, though, there's not much to choose from. I mentioned last weekend that given the dearth of quality backup quarterbacks looking for work, the Cowboys would be hard-pressed to do better than Johnson. That said, I don't think that'll keep Jones from trying. You know, just in case Romo has to drive Nick Lachey's ex-wife to the airport or something.

Before their abbreviated hibernation prior to training camp, the Dallas Morning News' Cowboys Blog caught up with owner Jerry Jones and unearthed this nugget:

A few weeks ago you said you would be open to getting a backup QB. You still trying to do that? "All the confidence. A lot of confidence in Brad. Had real good camps and real good work."

That's Brad Johnson. All 39 years of him. Blogging the Boys asks if "is anybody else as confident about Brad Johnson as Jerry is?" and the answer, obviously, is hell to da naw.

The Cowboys have two things in their favor, however: first, Tony Romo is resilient (bangs on wood). He's started 26 consecutive games since taking over for Drew Bledsoe midway through the 2006 season. In that time he's been sacked 45 times (or just two times fewer than Ben Roethlisberger ... in 2007), and had to play with various nicks and bruises.

Second, yes, Johnson's a fossil, but that's just a pejorative; the half-glass-full set would call him experienced. Sure, he had a rough go of it in Minnesota in '06, but that had just as much to do with those around him as his inability to complete a pass of more than seven yards.

The Cowboys feature a few more offensive weapons than that Vikings team, so there's that. Still, if Dallas is without Romo for any extended period, their odds of losing in the postseason get substantially longer. That said, given the names currently floating around free agency, I'm not sure the Cowboys could do much better than Johnson.

Joe Horn's cell phone won't ring, which is weird given that's sorta his shtick (although, to be fair, I don't really think he was making a call during that touchdown celebration). Recent speculation had the Cowboys interested in trading for the current Falcons wideout, but Jerry Jones shot down those rumors, and Horn pretty much agreed to as much during an interview with ESPN radio.

He also made a plea for the Cowboys -- anybody, really -- to save him from the NFL Siberia that has become the Atlanta Falcons, while also admitting that he understands why it might not happen.

"To come there and be on the other side of T.O. would be fabulous, but right now, that hasn't happened. No conversations have been made and all that is speculation."

Horn was realistic and said "asking for a draft pick for a 36-year-old at my salary is kind of hard." But Horn also knows the Falcons want to go with younger players. He said he'd rather go somewhere else because Horn believes he can still start in the NFL.

I mentioned it last week, but the Cowboys don't have much need for Horn. He may still be a fine No. 2 receiver, but so too are Terry Glenn, Patrick Crayton, and, hell, Jason Witten. I certainly understand why Horn might want to play somewhere other than Atlanta; I just don't see the Cowboys being the team to help him out of that predicament.

I don't think anybody would argue that personal seat licenses (PSLs) are a racket perpetrated by NFL organizations to make some money.

A team announces plans to build a stadium, the region is excited by the prospect of a shiny, new venue and "a boost to the local economy", and then, after everyone's on board, the sordid details emerge: to complete the project, public financing will be slightly more than expected, and, oh, yeah, there will be PSLs for every seat in the house to help offset the costs. High-fives for everyone.

In today's Dallas Morning News, Rich Gosselin writes about two storied franchises building new stadiums, and the different approaches they're taking to gouging their fans.

The Giants will move into their new digs in 2010, and every one of the 82,500 seats will be tied to PSLs. These PSLs will range from $1,000 to $20,000. The Cowboys plan to relocate to their state-of-the-art space station next year, and to finance the Jerry Jones Mothership, PSLs will range from $2,000-$150,000. But it gets better:

Mention Bill Parcells' name and you'll get any number of responses, from reverence to disgust, depending on the audience. The Dolphins, his latest reclamation project, are undoubtedly glad to have Parcells; Patriots owner Bob Kraft probably wasn't all that jazzed at how Parcells abruptly ended things in New England.

And when Jerry Jones hired Parcells in 2003, the fans were no doubt ecstatic at the thought of the Cowboys again being relevant. The team made the playoffs in that first season, but, ultimately, never got close to the success (or a postseason victory), that many people envisioned.

Now, two years after Parcells "retired," DallasCowboys.com's Nick Eatman writes that much of the team's recent success is attributable to some very savvy personnel moves made early in Parcells' tenure. And it all started inauspiciously enough.

Yesterday, the word on the street was that the Cowboys might be interested Falcons' wideout Joe Horn. One of the story lines this offseason has been about Dallas finding a legit No. 2 receiver opposite Terrell Owens (might I suggest this guy), although I'm not sure how Horn, all 36 years of him, would upgrade the position.

Jerry Jones agrees, evidently; talking to ESPN, the Cowboys owner offered this: "Yeah, that's not correct ... I haven't expressed any interest there and haven't evaluated him. That's just not correct." Doesn't leave much room for confusion.

And now, Terry Glenn, the No. 2 receiver already on the Cowboys roster who has been at odds with the organization over money, is looking to mend some fences.

Wide receiver Terry Glenn is speaking with Dallas Cowboys officials again in the hopes of returning. ... "Terry is someone I have a lot of interest in," Jones said Friday night. "We worked well together last year. We will sit down here and look at how he fits and what we can do with him as a player this year."

The backstory: Glenn refused to sign an injury wavier that would pay him $500,000 should he re-injure his knee, and the Cowboys wouldn't let him practice without the waiver. The threat of Joe Horn has changed all that, apparently. Or maybe common sense prevailed. Either way, Dallas is closer to getting that veteran wideout to play with T.O. And this one has cat-like quickness, which is a nice little bonus.

We're still waiting for "Adam" Jones, upstanding citizen, to give way to the strip-club lovin' rain maker formerly known as Pacman. A rose by any other name and all that. So far, it hasn't happened, and as part of the new-and-improved him, "Adam" has decided to take another nickname. A symbol of his rebirth and whatnot.

He told the media last week that "Pacman" was out because "It's really just a lot of negativity behind it. It's time for a change." Which, obviously, is why, from this day forth, he will be known as Dig Dug. No, really:

"Pacman is a straight up p---- game compared to Dig Dug," said Jones. "Pacman just eats stuff. In Dig Dug you could blow people up or crush them with a rock. That's totally how I roll." ...

"People are doubting me, so I have to come stronger and harder than ever," said Jones. "I don't need people saying I'm some small, little yellow guy or cracking on me calling me 'Ms. Pacman.' No way. I mean, notice there was never any 'Ms. Dig Dug.' That's because Dig Dug would drop a rock on a b----."

Dig Dug makes a good point. And he seemingly gets the message that this could be his last stop before prison unless he changes. If part of that makeover includes a new nickname, I'm all for it. And Cowboys owner Jerry Jones agrees, apparently.

Adam Jones, fresh from where ever it is you go to legally drop your nickname, is thriving with the Cowboys to the surprise of a lot of people outside Dallas, but, apparently, not to members of the organization.

"He's very serious. I think he understands that this is a big step for him this year," secondary coach Dave Campo said. "He's hungry. He wants to do good. He wants to play good."

I'll admit to being very skeptical when Jones went on tour to explain that he understands his situation, and will walk the straight and narrow if given the opportunity to again play in the NFL. And I'm still skeptical, but I'm coming around. But, hey, he's off to a better start than Javon Walker.

And it's not just the above-the-neck stuff, Jones is also impressing people with his on-field performance.

"Kind of what we thought. He works hard," coach Wade Phillips said. "I thought he was a competitor, but he is an extraordinary competitor. He really likes to mix it up out there and make every play."

So the early results are that owner Jerry Jones took another gamble on a player of questionable character, and it could again work out nicely, thank you very much. The Cowboys are passively looking for a proven No. 2 wideout -- maybe Walker can work a trade from Oakland to Dallas. It'll be the quickest way to revive his career, I think.

Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams sure is persistent. He's taking a beating this offseason from, well, everybody -- fans, media, teammates, unnamed NFL personnel dudes -- on the sorry state of his game, particularly when it comes to pass coverage.

With the NFL coming to a crawl for the next four weeks, I figured the story would go away, at least until training camp. Nope. After signing autographs at the Hurst, TX Dillards, Williams had a lengthy Q & A with the Fort Worth Star Telegram. And despite all the rumor and speculation, it looks like Williams will be around for a while.

"I was blindsided by the (cut him or trade him talk)," Williams said. "That is crazy. I don't plan on playing for another team. I plan to retire as a member of the Dallas Cowboys. I even talked to Jerry about it. He said don't even worry about it. He said I am not worried about you performing on the football field."

But the deeply religious Williams plans to use the criticism directed at him as motivation during what he called a "put up or shut up" season in 2008.

I think it says a lot when a first-round draft pick is in danger of getting cut because the team that drafted him added future Hall of Famers Jerry Porter and Troy Williamson to the roster. But that's exactly the fate that could befall Matt Jones, the Jaguars' 2005 first-rounder.

Assuming it happens, then what? Is there a market for a 6-6, 230-pound dude who runs a 4.37 but isn't particularly adept at getting open or catching passes? Well, of course there is. Because, you see, Jones attended University of Arkansas, and every NFL fan knows that whenever an Arkansas alum is released, the Cowboys are obligated to offer them a tryout. You know, because Jerry Jones is a Razorback.

Actually, that couldn't be further from the truth; Dallas' 2008 first-round pick, Felix Jones, is the first Arkansas player drafted during the Jones regime. But Matt Jones is still an attractive option because of his physical attributes and, more importantly, he'd come on the cheap.