One day after a memorable Jerry Jones press conference, ESPN analyst Kevin Clark said the Dallas Cowboys owner is more concerned with dominating the headlines than winning Super Bowls.
Kevin Clark: Jerry Jones Cares About The Media, Not Super Bowls
Kevin Clark: "When I look at Jerry Jones, I think of one thing: If the football Gods came down and said, 'Jerry, you get to win the next three Super Bowls… but the catch is, you can't do a press conference…' he looks at the football Gods and says, 'no deal.'" pic.twitter.com/sIHyIWsci8
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 22, 2025
To say Jones loves that the Cowboys are America’s Team would be an understatement. Case in point, an entire Netflix documentary chronicling Jones’ rise from rookie owner to leader of the most recognizable brand in American professional sports comes out in August.
The popularity has not translated to playoff success this century. The Cowboys won their third Super Bowl in four seasons on January 28, 1996. Since that victory, the Cowboys have not made it to the NFC Championship game.
It hasn’t been for a lack of talent. Say what you want about Jones, he knows how to draft talent. Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Darren Woodson, Larry Allen, DeMarcus Ware, Tyron Smith, Zack Martin, Ezekiel Elliot, Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons were all drafted under Jones’ guidance.
Drafting has not been Jones’ problem. Once these players reach the end of their rookie contracts, Jones has struggled to get deals done. In the cases of Prescott and Lamb, Jones ends up overpaying because he refused to pay them earlier when the market value was less.
ESPN’s Kevin Clark gave Jones props for his drafting abilities before posing an interesting hypothetical that summarizes the problem with the Cowboys’ owner.
“If the football gods came down and said, ‘Jerry, you get to win the next three Super Bowls. You get to have the exact same early ’90s glory days. Everybody’s watching the Boys on Sunday. You got the triplets back,'” Clark explained on First Take via Awful Announcing. “Everything is going Jerry’s way, but the catch is you can’t do a press conference. You can’t talk. You can’t go in front of the cameras and make it about Jerry. He looks at the football gods and he says, ‘No deal.'”
Jerry Jones Going Through Similar Situation With Micah Parsons
Anytime you can publicly take a dig at your star quarterback and your star pass rusher simultaneously, right before the season begins, you just gotta take it…
Nothing makes guys want to fight for you more than hearing how upset you are that they got hurt while fighting for you. https://t.co/iaaBk6kfmo
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) July 21, 2025
Clark is right about this: Jones loves to talk. During Monday’s press conference, Jones took a shot at Parsons, his star edge rusher who needs a contract extension.
“Just because we sign him doesn’t mean we’re going to have him,” Jones said about how signing Parsons to a long-term deal doesn’t always equal success. “He was hurt six games last year. Seriously!”
Actually, Parsons missed four games in 2024, not six.
Had Jones signed Parsons earlier this offseason, he could have locked him up for an average per year of around $35 million. After the contracts for Cleveland’s Myles Garrett and Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt, Parsons likely won’t sign a deal until the average per year surpasses $41 million.
