'We Know What We're Doing!' Can Jerry Jones' Dallas Cowboys Change in 'All-In' Plan Work?

'More With Less!'? Jerry Jones Reveals Dallaas Cowboys Change in 'All-In' Plan

jerry lamb /

ORLANDO -- Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is often the topic of discussion. Nothing changed at the 2024 league owners meeting.

Four weeks ago, speaking at the NFL Combine, Jones said the Cowboys were going "all-in" this offseason with hopes of getting back to the postseason and shaking the Lombardi curse that's bit the franchise for the past three decades.

But Jones isn't necessarily reaching new levels of desperation. He's just got a new mantra. "All In'' has been replaced by "Do More With Less.'' ... and while he insists, "We know what we're doing,'' Cowboys Nation has a reason to scratch its collective head.

jerry lamb /

"I have been more all in before," Jones said Sunday at the league owners meetings. "By any definition, and I have been more all in to make a run back to the line of scrimmage then I’ve been to run for 50 yards. It took more all in to just get back to the line of scrimmage than it did to run for 50 yards. Sometimes that is a bigger challenge."

"That is really the gist of what we’re about this year. We’ve got to get it done. ... with lesser.''

But for the most part, Dallas has been quiet in free agency. It's also lost several impact players, including running back Tony Pollard and offensive tackle Tyron Smith, who signed contracts with the Tennessee Titans and New York Jets, respectively.

Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones attends the Big 12 football game between Texas / Annie Rice/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY

For Jones, losing some members of the team that featured nine Pro Bowlers but ultimately fell short after a 48-32 wildcard loss to the Green Bay Packers isn't ideal, but it's the hand Dallas has been dealt.

It also means the Cowboys are going to have to reach greater heights without the talent reinforcements to support it.

"I think that we have been in a situation where we can get it done with lesser," Jones said. "More doesn’t necessarily beat Green Bay. There are other things. Maybe having it better strategically in different spots, but more than necessarily beating them. So, we’re going to be asked to do some things different because we got some different players."

Jones wants Cowboys fans to trust him and the staff. After all, the proof is on the pudding, he feels.

Even with no trips to the NFC Championship game in four years under head coach Mike McCarthy, a streak that dates back to 1995, Jones is confident in the product Dallas has fielded inside AT&T Stadium.

The Cowboys have gone 12-5 each of the past three years, twice winning the NFC East. But they're just 1-3 in the playoffs, watching as familiar January struggles show up time and again.

Still, Jones says, trust him - and recognize this isn't close to a rebuilding situation.

"I would look at the last three seasons, and I would say from that, we know what we're doing," Jones said. "We’ve had excellent talent and have had enough to win 12 games. And I’ve had coaching that does correlate. Rather than start all over, my judgment is to take what we’ve got. Be as strategic about what we’re going to be doing in the next few years.

"Be strategic but not compromise an all-in now."

Jones acknowledged he's disappointed the Cowboys' plans to advance in the postseason, let alone win the Super Bowl, didn't work - but he's still positive in what's been accomplished.

Of course, Jones wants more ... but he's adamant the Cowboys are better off than others may want to give them credit for.

"We’ve been hanging around the rim pretty good," Jones said. "I know our fans don’t want to hear it. But we’ve been hanging around the rim pretty good. We’ve been winning a lot of games. That’s what has transpired with us spending that money the way we spent it. Is it satisfactory to sit here and not have advanced the last two or three years? Absolutely not."

It is satisfactory to simply accept, "We know what we're doing''? Maybe not.