The NFL off-season is in its’ dead period, with the NFL Draft in the rearview and the regular season still months away. While OTA’s are going on, the fine people at Rotoworld are passing the time by ranking the best general managers in the league. According to Patrick Daugherty¸ the Dallas Cowboys duo of Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones represent the 13th best general manager in the NFL.
Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones 13th Best General Manager in NFL, per Rotoworld
Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones are coming off a successful season, which makes this ranking somewhat surprising. The duo notably traded away their first-round pick to get wide receiver Amari Cooper and constructed a division-winning roster which went all the way to the NFC Divisional Round.
“Has such a powerful man ever been such an easy target? Jerry Jones jokes have long written themselves. While you were laughing, you might not have noticed Jones’ teams posting a .600 winning percentage (48-32) since 2014. How did this happen? It’s a good question, especially as Jones does things like use a top-five pick on a running back and stick by a feckless Jason Garrett. Shockingly disciplined on the open market, the Cowboys’ most expensive outside free agent over the past five years was Cedric Thornton’s four-year, $17 million deal in 2016. Jones has been convinced to build from within, and he has been rewarded with his most successful five-year stretch since Jimmy Johnson was in town. [He] is still capping his ceiling by tethering himself to Garrett and his arch-conservative style. Jones has finally come around on the best team-building practices. Perhaps coach hiring is next.”
Daugherty points out that Jones has made a significant organizational shift in philosophy over the past few years. Once notorious for spending top dollar on good-but-not-great players, Jones has started building through the draft. This method has worked wonderfully, as Dallas is one of the best drafters in the league. Five of the Cowboys’ last six first-round picks have made a Pro Bowl, with the lone exception being the enigmatic Taco Charlton.
Dallas has been one of the best teams in the league over the past five years when their core has been together. The Cowboys won the division in three of the last five years and suffered a serious loss in the years they didn’t make the postseason. Tony Romo missed essentially all of 2015 with a back injury while Ezekiel Elliott only played in 10 games in 2017. This run of success wouldn’t have been possible without the Jones duo assembling effective, cost-controlled talent. Jones cannot match up to someone like Bill Belichick, but they should be higher than this on the list.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
