When DeMarco Murray bolted for Philadelphia yesterday afternoon, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had a press release sent out saying that if there were no salary cap, Murray would have still been in Dallas.
Of course, the fact that Jones himself wasn’t pulling the trigger might have helped too.
As smartly pointed out by Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the fact Murray was allowed to walk away for the sake of financial prudence is yet another sign that Jerry’s son Stephen Jones is the one running the place now.
Stephen’s title is vice president of player personnel, and it’s becoming increasingly clear he’s calling most of the shots at Valley Ranch.
Hill points out that over he course of last year, Stephen was the one attending every practice, as his dad had in the past. It was Stephen and the personnel department and coaches who had to talk his dad out of Johnny Manziel, and instead draft another boring old offensive lineman. And DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher leaving a year ago was another sign of Jerry’s quest for glory hole wasn’t going to stand in the way of, well for lack of a better phrase, glory hole.
Because his dad has a gigantic personality and/or ego, it will be hard for him to stay in the shadows. And every indication is that Stephen is perfectly happy letting his dad remain out front, holding court in the bus and having press conferences.
But while the elder Jones is still as big of a star in Dallas as anyone, his son has gradually moved into the lead, which might be the best thing that happened for the entire family or team.