Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones: Is He Right About Coach Sean McVay's Rams?

Sean McVay led the Los Angeles Rams to the playoffs in four out of six seasons, including two Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl win. So .. what's the Cowboys' problem here?

Two things about Jerry Jones, the hyper-talkative Dallas Cowboys owner ...

One, he's got a very particular interest in the Los Angeles Rams.

And two, did we mention he's "hyper-talkative'' - and as a result of that, easy to misunderstand?

Jerry's done it again, this week speaking at the Senior Bowl and leaving the impression to some who don't speak "Jerry'ese'' that he is criticizing the Rams and the Super Bowl-bound Eagles for their roster-building style.

The truth: He's not being critical.

He's jealous.

“We’re seeing a couple of teams that have had some real success putting it all out there and paying for it later,'' Jones said, mentioning the Eagles and the Rams, who won last year's Super Bowl using a "go-for-it'' management style. Don’t think that doesn’t pop in my head and get my eye, as far as doing it ...

"I know how to do that.''

Some goofs are misunderstanding the point by parsing the "paying for it later'' part. In the Eagles' case, they do seem so loaded and so well set-up that the "pay later'' part seems blurry.

But the Rams? And Rams fans? You know exactly what he's talking about - and so does GM Les Snead, when he talks of L.A. going forward - with last year's Super Bowl proudly on display - as being a "remodel.''

So ... on to the remodel ...

With sharp guidance from Cameron DeSilva at Rams Wire and from CowboysSI.com ... three steps toward it ..

1 - The new offensive coordinator/keep coveted aides. Liam Coen is gone for Kentucky. Promoting Zac Robinson or Thomas Brown is an option. Meanwhile, McVay surely wants to find a way to retain coaches like Raheem Morris and Brown.

2 - How's your best player? Donald sometimes hints about leaving almost as often as McVay does. But he was just elected to his ninth Pro Bowl and remains a foundational talent.

3 - Steal from Jerry. Wait, what? We thought Jerry is saying he'd like to "steal ideas from the Rams?'' Actually, the oil wild-catter Jones helped invent the idea of the "splash signing,'' all the way back to 1994 and Deion Sanders. So now, as Dallas contemplates mimicking the 2019-21 Rams, maybe the Rams can borrow from one thing Dallas' front office does well now ...

Let's call it "third-tier free agency.''

The Cowboys spend big to keep their own stars, but don't much play "credit card'' with their cap (as the Rams have done) anymore. But Dallas does a fine job grabbing reclamation projects and almost-stars and local guys who want to come home. They went 12-5 this year with third-tier signees like Leighton Vander Esch, Malik Hooker, Jayron Kearse, Dante Fowler, Anthony Barr, T.Y. Hilton and Jason Peters playing key roles.

It was cheap and successful ... sort of like the Rams might need to be in 2023.

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