Jerry Jones: Cowboys’ Window Is Closing

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones spoke to the NFL Network Tuesday at the owners meetings in Atlanta about the Dallas Cowboys and their shortcomings in the postseason since winning 3 Super Bowls in the early 90s.

“Well, my window is getting shorter. Time goes by,” Jones told NFL Network at the owners meetings in Atlanta. “I do feel real pressure because we do have players not only in (quarterback) Tony Romo, but (tight end) Jason Witten (and outside linebacker) DeMarcus Ware, to leave out several that are (also) in the prime of their career. And we need to strike and strike soon with those guys.”

“(Coach) Jason Garrett feels exactly the same way about it and understands how urgent it is. Candidly, you’re looking through rose-colored glasses if we all don’t realize that now is the time to compete on the field.”

The Cowboys finished last season 1-4 in the last 5 games, mainly to blowing leads in the game including a crucial week 14 loss to the New York Giants, a game they led by 12 points with 5 minutes left in the game in Cowboys Stadium. The Cowboys also were 23rd in the league as a defense against the pass allowing 244.1 yards per game.

To fans of America’s team last season was a big disappointment after the Cowboys brought in defensive coordinator Rob Ryan to fix what has long been viewed as an underachieving squad. In this offseason they’ve reloaded the defense, and mainly the secondary. They added free agent cornerback Brandon Carr from Kansas City. The Cowboys traded up in the draft to acquire corner Morris Claiborne from LSU. And to further fix the secondary the Cowboys signed free agent Safety Brodney Pool who has played for Rob Ryan in Cleveland and Rex Ryan in New York.

With that said, the Cowboys have addressed their defensive needs and have virtually eliminated the excuses for underachieving.

The core for the Dallas Cowboys, Witten, 30, Romo, 32, Ware, 29 are in what could be the last few seasons of their prime. Their window is definitely closing.

The rest of the roster is filled with talent that is young across the board. Dez Bryant is only 23, and Miles Austin is still young at 27 years. Running backs DeMarco Murray is 24 and Felix Jones is 25, and the guy guarding Tony Romo’s blind side, Tyron Smith is only 21 years old.

The Cowboys have a talented defensive core that is young as well. Sean Lee, who had a breakout season last year as a MLB, has emerged as a defenisve leader and is only 25 years old. Not to mention a young trio of corners: Claiborne, 22, Carr, 26 and Scandrick is only 25 years old.

So Jerry Jones might be talking about his window, or Tony Romo’s because the Cowboys looked poised to be talented for a while.

But even if that is true, Dallas and Jerry Jones are growing more and more uneasy with the lack of playoff success since their last Super Bowl victory. And frustration might soon be reaching a boiling point amongst Cowboys fans.

The problem is that a lot of these Dallas Cowboys are more content with the celebrity of being a Cowboy then actually being part of a legacy of championship and postseason success.

Tony Romo at times seems to focused on golf and his celebrity datings. Dez Bryant is always getting himself in trouble whether financially or being banned from a Dallas area mall. Miles Austin admittedly wasn’t prepared or in shape for last season. But that mindset might be changing.

“It’s about time that we go to that next step and I think our team is going to be ready for that,” Tony Romo said roughly a month ago.

Jerry Jones echoed that statement.

“We have experienced at least a couple of the most disappointing seasons that I’ve ever had because we had great play from Tony and we still didn’t get it done,” Jones said. “What we’ve got to do is, while we’ve still got him on the job, we’ve got to come with the rest of it and position us to better compete for a Super Bowl. I have a lot of confidence in Tony.”

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