FRISCO, Texas -- Every now and then Jerry Jones will come up with a saying that gets repeated and repeated and repeated.
When Tony Romo was the Dallas Cowboys' quarterback, the owner said the team's offseason approach one year was "Romo friendly." Later, when Dak Prescott was the quarterback, he said the approach was "Dak friendly."
This offseason, Jones came up with "all-in" when speaking to reporters at the Senior Bowl, and that has become his newest oft-repeated phrase.
But there is some caution to throw in when Cowboys fans start dreaming of New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen or Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones joining their team when free agency begins next week.
"Your definition of what is 'all-in' and mine might not be the same thing," Jones said later at the scouting combine in Indianapolis, "but I'm trying to win the games this year with my decision. So I'm all-in to this year."
OK, so what does all-in look like to Jerry?
"I will assure that there will be some things done differently because we're going to be working on different players and drafting different people, and so just the very nature of it is different. Different people. You got different coaches," Jones said.
"But I think the attention that the nuances of where we are with the cap, the nuances of where we are with our position in the draft, the nuances of where we are with our free agents that we get that involved in [is] the definition of 'We're all-in.'"
Clear as mud, isn't it?
Does it mean the Cowboys' approach to free agency will be different?
"That would be somebody taking one part of 10 things we're doing," Jones said.
Said executive vice president Stephen Jones, "I've never known Jerry not to be all-in in any given year. But you know, certainly we've got a great, I think, team put together. I think the last three years, won a lot of [regular-season] football games, I think 36, and certainly where we have to improve is the postseason. Got to get the right kind of guys who step up and make big plays in the postseason. That's been a challenge in terms of our success there, and that's where we have to improve."
The Cowboys have not shopped in the high-end part of the market since signing cornerback Brandon Carr to a five-year, $50 million deal in 2012. They have shopped on the edges. The two unrestricted free agents they signed last year were tackle Chuma Edoga and running back Ronald Jones. In 2022, it was pass-rusher Dante Fowler Jr. and wide receiver James Washington.
The difference in approach last year was the wise low-cost trades for wide receiver Brandin Cooks (2023 fifth-rounder, 2024 sixth-rounder) and cornerback Stephon Gilmore (2023 fifth) that paid off handsomely in a 12-5 record and an NFC East title.
If the Cowboys have a chance to sign one player for $20 million or three to four players at that price, Jones said they would opt for quantity over quality -- like they did three years ago when they lost defensive end Randy Gregory to the Denver Broncos but were able to keep Dorance Armstrong (who outperformed Gregory's run in Denver and the San Francisco 49ers) and add two other free agents.
This year, however, they are likely to lose Armstrong to a larger free agent deal than they are willing to pay. It is also unlikely they can keep left tackle Tyron Smith. It might be difficult to keep Gilmore, running back Tony Pollard and center Tyler Biadasz too.
How does that make the 2024 Cowboys better than the 2023 Cowboys?
The bump of the 2024 salary cap to $255 million helps. It means they'll have to restructure fewer contracts, which eats into future salary cap figures, but it does not create the ability to be all-in when it comes to re-signing their own players or adding big-name stars.
The impasse is not 2024. To the Cowboys, it's 2025. As it stands without restructuring contracts, the Cowboys will have more than $50 million in dead money against the 2025 salary cap with the expiring contracts of Dak Prescott, DeMarcus Lawrence, Cooks and the potential of Zack Martin's departure after 2024. Add in a potential release of Michael Gallup and that number creeps toward $60 million.
If the Cowboys use their typical restructuring moves on players such as Prescott and Lawrence, then they could have about $90 million in dead money next year. From 2017 to 2023, dead money accounted for anywhere from 8% to 18.2% of the Cowboys' cap. On a projected 2025 cap of $270 million, that dead money figure could be between 20% and 33%.
The Cowboys have to manage all of this while also trying to re-sign All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and All-Pro pass-rusher Micah Parsons. They also want to keep Prescott, who has a $59.45 million cap figure this year. Without an extension, Prescott will count $36 million against the 2025 cap because of dead money. If they restructure his contract this year, he will count $54 million against the cap in 2025.
And he might not be on their roster next year if they can't reach a deal and he signs elsewhere as a free agent.
Maybe that's why the normal definition of all-in and Jerry Jones' definition of all-in are so different.