The Cowboys believe they have a team ready to compete for a Super Bowl championship, but that doesn’t mean they are satisfied with their roster.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he has had trade discussions with another owner as recently as Monday, calling it a “very legitimate discussion.”
“I’d be very interested,” Jones said Tuesday during the team’s annual news conference to open training camp. “I’d give up the future to [get something] substantive to where we are today — as to a player — to give you an idea about what I invest, something substantive, to get the right kind of deal and improve us for opening day. I would. I feel that good about this team this year. Of course, you know that I haven’t seen this team play together, but in general, looking ahead, I think we’ve got a chance to be worthy of spending some future if we saw an opportunity.”
Jones elaborated to reporters after the news conference, saying the Cowboys still could use a playmaker on defense, like a pass rusher or a linebacker. The team, of course, traded one of the league’s top pass rushers, Micah Parsons, to the Packers before the start of last season.
“If we get an opportunity to add to this thing, we’re very capable of doing that,” Jones said, via Jon Machota of TheAthletic.com. “The mood is here to do it. . . . If any place it would be to improve our play-making ability on defense and pressure that quarterback or have an opportunity to do something special at linebacker. A top pick is expendable this year to add somebody meaningful that would help us now. I’m not just looking for a player; we’re looking for somebody that can add to the mix.”
The Cowboys seem to believe they are one player away from a sure-fire Super Bowl team, a feeling they haven’t felt in years despite Jones’ annual optimism.
Jones didn’t win his first Super Bowl until the Cowboys traded for pass rusher Charles Haley just before the start of the 1992 season. He didn’t win his third until the Cowboys signed cornerback Deion Sanders from the 49ers after losing to San Francisco in the 1994 NFC Championship Game.
At some point, for some reason, Jones stopped being the riverboat gambler. That’s why it’s been more than 30 years since the Cowboys’ last championship, which Dak Prescott reminded everyone of Monday when he showed up to training camp in a Super Bowl XXX championship T-shirt.
“I may have been trying to get a little of both in — a little for today, but also save a little for tomorrow,” Jones said. “But then, you end up with a little milk toast sometimes. When that happens for you, you need to be a little more definitive. I will domino. I will lay it out there. It’s not a threat. It’s just that I will shoot. So, yeah, we’re very capable, if we get the opportunity to improve it by doing it. My message simply is that I feel good enough about this thing to give up some of the future, if the opportunity comes up.”
